Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during May 2021]

In Rudyard Kipling’s epic story ‘Jungle Book’, Mowgli is the man-cub, an orphan boy who is brought up by a pack of wolves in the Indian jungle. He encounters a variety of wild animals, both friendly and otherwise; there’s his bumbling friend Baloo the bear, the somewhat aloof panther Bagheera, the duplicitous snake Kaa and his arch-enemy Shere Khan the tiger. Later in the story we encounter Colonel Hathi with his parade of elephants and King Louie who leads a colony of apes that lives in an abandoned temple.

The story has had the ‘Walt Disney’ treatment, introducing phrases and snatches of songs that have, perhaps, become more familiar than the original story. We can identify with the quest for the bare necessities of life, the need to control the power of man’s red flower and the allure of the king of the swingers. Some can see a spiritual dimension in the serpent whispering “trusssst in me” and the devilish intentions of the tiger, whilst the eventual return of Mowgli to the man-village is likened to the arrival of Pilgrim at the Celestial City.

What is the relevance of this story in the context of a devotional reflection? What can we learn that might be of value in our day-to-day circumstances and our walk with God? Does God’s own survival guide offer any advice?

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.^[1]

As we awake each morning, whether to the trumpets of the dawn patrol or the shrill call of a smart-phone, our Shepherd knows our needs for that day, and he knows just how to satisfy them.

Mowgli would not have survived without his friends – that’s what friends are for. Even if we live as a hermit or the sole believer in a secular situation, we are not without a friend. The Holy Spirit will be a guide and comforter, if we allow him.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

It is a jungle out there. Life is beset with temptations, trials and traps. There are people who would gain great satisfaction from making life difficult for us. Generally, God places us in communities of both believers and non-believers. Some will help us, some will hinder us but in both cases God can use them to realise his plans for us, and they are all for our good.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Life in the jungle will not last for ever. There is a home at the end of the road; a village with many mansions awaits those who trust in Jesus Christ as saviour and faithfully follow him.

Is your name in his book of invitees?

[1] All quotations from Psalm 23, NIVUK

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