“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I - could I - would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.  And as Jill gazed into its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion.  It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, not as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry.  It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh, dear!,” said Jill, coming another step nearer.  “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

Here is just a few thoughts, feel free to expand upon them.

Jill asked the Lion to make a promise to her.  What some people may miss or forget is that God does not have to make a promise to us about anything, because He already has.  He was promised us eternal life if we choose to love Him.  What Jill is also missing is trusting in this promise.  We as humans seem to want to alter God’s promises He has made to us.  For instance, waiting until marriage to have sex.  We don’t seem to think that God knows what He is doing, or we don’t realize how much pain we will bring to ourselves if we don’t wait, or how much pain we can bring to others if we don’t wait.  We want to have ‘successful’ careers to find comfort here on Earth, and yet God told us not to worry about what we will even eat the next day.  So may we see God’s promises come to life as we trust in what He knows is best for all of us.

The Lion has consumed more people than He even leads us to believe; He has consumed us with His love.  He has captivated our attention, brought peace in times of heartache, forgiven us when we have gone to Him with conviction.  He is not just lying next to the stream, He is leading us to it even if we never see Him.

As for the stream.  There is no other stream.  There is no other God.  You will die without the one and only stream of life.  It comes as a shock to most, even when they know it.  They deny the stream even exists, even though they look for it all their life.  They find the stream but won’t talk to the Lion that put it there.  They are so mad at the Lion and yet they say He does not exist.  Ironic how one can be so mad at something that ‘doesn’t exist’.