The Velveteen Rabbit, one of my favorite childhood books is about a stuffed bunny who is so loved by a child that one day he takes on life itself and becomes real. What a wonderful thing to happen to this little fellow. After all, he was only ever to be a stuffed toy, destined to be a play thing to this little boy, surrounded by numerous other like such amusements, his life was to be spent in the boys little nursery and at his beckon call. If he should be very fortunate, said his friend the Skin Horse, he would be noticed by the boy, taken into his little world and eventually in time, if truly blessed, exceedingly loved above all else. Such a process would be described by the Skin Horse as becoming real, at least to the little boy. Could something so wonderful happen to this stuffed, though darling little bundle? Time would tell, though the little rabbit wondered at the prospect of becoming real. It sounded rather daunting as described by the Skin Horse. For when you become real you are loved with such an intensity that all your fur rubs off, your sparkling shiny eyes grow dull and the very stuffing which composes your furry little body all begins to fall out. In fact, this experience sounded rather painful, thought the Velveteen Bunny to himself. He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to undergo such a transformation. But alas, the Skin Horse reassured him, becoming real is the very best thing that can happen to you and it is preferable to any other experience any toy could hope for. For to be real, was to be loved by the boy and this was the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to him, the highest achievement in all of the world to a little stuffed creature such as himself. The Velveteen Bunny remained somewhat skeptical for the process would leave him looking rather shabby he feared, and not nearly as beautiful or desirable as his stuffed like friends looking so clean and perfect as they sat high upon the shelf in the nursery. But the Skin Horse reflected on that thought for a moment and answered the Bunny with all the wisdom and discernment he had acquired in his tenure as a nursery resident. He assured him that in fact becoming real was the very best experience ever, and doesn’t happen very often to those who would break easily, or have to be clean and well kept, they would decline so great an honor. For they could not appreciate such wonders. He went on to explain to the bunny the truth, that yes, he would in fact get tattered and frayed, run down and well used, but that he would never be ugly, for when you are real, you can never be ugly again, except to those who don’t understand.The rabbit stirred at the marvel of becoming real and secretly hoped it would happen to him. In fact, it does happen to this little friend. He becomes the boy’s treasure, snuggled and cuddled in his bed every night, lovingly played with all the day long, until one sad day the boy develops scarlet fever and all the playthings must be thrown out. So the bunny is left in the trash out back, to be hauled off and buried in some far away dump, that is until the nursery fairy comes and rescues him and brings him home to the wild where all real bunnies wish to live. It is here that he first experiences all that God intended for him to be.
As I pondered this story I contemplate the invitation the Lord gives to each one of us. He knows who we are, for He is the great shepherd who made each one of us. He knows what we are on the inside, and He knows what we are on the outside. Yet his desire for each one of us is to become. But this is no ordinary becoming. This is the path to becoming real. What is real, you ask. Real is just like the Skin Horse said, it happens to you. It takes time. Slowly through many experiences and workings of the Lord in your heart, a light begins to shine, if you will listen to His words. You come to believe in Him, and believe on Him. You begin to see the truth, for His very name is truth, and in so knowing Him, you can’t help but learn the truth. The truth about who we really are, and who God really is. He is good. He is gracious. He came to set us free. In John 8 He says, If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. What kind of freedom? The freedom to be loved just as you are, to be forgiven of all your sin, to receive the gift of eternal life simply by faith alone in His magnificent and precious promises. You see, the truth is, that we are all sinners, we have broken every one of Gods laws. The Bible says there is none righteous, no not one. We need to be forgiven of our sin. We need a Saviour. Jesus Christ came to earth to take away the sin of the whole world. He bore it in His body on the cross. The good news is that God loves you, and He has paid our sin debt on the cross. Now we can live forever with Him, for His justice has been satisfied if we will receive Him, His forgiveness and trust in Him alone for salvation, and not our good works as the pharisees of His day had. When we receive Jesus as Saviour, we are free from all the expectations and condemnations of a lost and dying world that could never set us free, see us made whole, and can’t help us, because there is no love on this earth like the love of God. Only God can make us real. Only God can make us His. Only the Son can set us free, Then we will be free indeed.
There are many pharisees in this life, many religions and religious people that would seek to keep this freedom, this treasure, buried in a field as it were, hid and hid well. They take the gospel of Jesus Christ, meant to be freely given, and freely proclaimed, and contort it for their own gain, or twist it to lay the foundation of dead works and the burden of earning one’s salvation in order to reach God. These false teachers do not seek to be real, but rather seek after the law, to bar the door of heaven with merit as well as proclaim their own goodness while putting others under a tremendous load. There is no interest in being real to these white washed sepulchers, for they are the chief of all liars. In fact, the more real you are , the more they will hate you, for they hated Him first, and they hate the truth. In the book of John Jesus says, He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. To come to the light which is Jesus Christ is to become real and to walk in truth, and in truth it is the very best thing that can ever happen to you.
Sarah Hopkins Art 