Taken

There was a time when I could go and enjoy a movie just for sheer entertainment value. For some reason, now I begin to think of how certain plots and scenes tie in to spiritual matters. These can come from what many consider odd sources (see the Gospel According to the Godfather).

The latest and perhaps most mind blowing example of this for me was the movie Taken. The second I saw the trailer I was hooked:

The story centers around a retired government operative named Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson. His teenage daughter, Kim, is pampered by her mother and wealthy step father but still has a soft spot for her dad. Kim persuades her mom and dad to allow her to travel to Paris under dubious circumstances with another teenage girl, only upon their arrival they are kidnapped by a gang of Eastern European human traffickers to be sold into sexual slavery.

Mills, who up until this point has been a relatively mild mannered father, unleashes a side of himself that exhausts every resource to find and rescue his beloved daughter. There is absolutely no barrier that stands in his way. Through many car chases, explosions, and unique interrogation techniques Mills ferociously cuts a swath of destruction until he finds Kim and brings her home.

I know how I feel as a father. Anyone who would even breathe threateningly at my children would… let’s just say the police would need a dustpan and a broom to clean up the mess. The Bible talks in Matthew 7:9-11 of an earthly father’s relationship to his children paling in comparison to God’s extravagant love for us. If I have these feelings for my kids, how does God respond to us?

A couple of things leapt out at me during the movie. Mills’ daughter lied to her dad in order to go on an overseas trip against his better judgment. Though it was a huge mess of her own making, her father turned into a fierce absolute force of nature that crushed everything in his path to return her safely home.

Sound familiar?

Romans 5:8 says that But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Mankind made a choice long ago to turn his back on God’s best and do things his own way. In spite of deserving the penalty for our own mistake God sent Jesus Christ through the annals of eternity to find us. He willingly laid down His rights and role in the comforts of heaven in order to wade through our misery and pain to find us and bring us home. He left no stone unturned; the very power of hell itself could not stop Him.

God the Father was – and is – relentless, undaunted, and frighteningly ruthless in His desire to rescue us. If you haven’t noticed, we as human beings have done a good job of making an enormous mess of our lives. Yet in spite of that we have a loving God Who will literally move heaven and earth to ensure our eternal security.

Do not stand between a Father and His child.