Narnia and GenesisNäide

Responsibility

Aslan, after creating Narnia, chooses several animals, gives them “his own being” and gives them the ability to speak. To these talking animals he gives the land of Narnia and all its creatures to care for. He also gives them a warning not to have the same habits as the beasts that do not speak because otherwise they will become like them again.

Something similar happens in Genesis, as God finishes creating everything and then creates man in his image and likeness. He gives them different qualities than the rest of the creatures he created. And not only that, he also makes him lord of the fish, the birds and the crawling animals. Apparently, God gives man privileges over the rest of the creatures, and that means that he also gives more responsibilities to man than to other creatures.

C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says that “to whom more is given, more is required”, meaning that the privileges, gifts or blessings that we have are also a responsibility that we must use wisely. And we must have an attitude of gratitude towards God for what he has given us and not believe that what we have is something we deserve or that we have earned by our own efforts. The privileges we have in any area can easily cloud our minds and, worse still, our spirit. We must always recognize with an attitude of humility that everything we have and are is by grace and comes from Christ.