C.S. Lewis Does it Again

I just finished reading C.S. Lewis’ books The Great Divorce and it was really eye opening. I’ll try not to ruin it but the basic premise is that Lewis is dead and he is traveling (with many others) on a bus from Hell to Heaven, he and the others appear as ghosts in Heaven while those who reside there appear as full bodied people, or Spirits as they are called. Basically each ghost meets up with a Spirit where the Spirit tries to persuade them to stay in Heaven. One sad thing that stood out to me is that all the ghosts resisted, each one finds some excuse, a faulty reason for leaving and thus miss out on Heaven. The main reason for leaving is that each of the ghosts is holding something back, whether it be fame, anger, or self pity, there is some selfish indulgence the ghosts have that they refuse to give up. It made me think about life here on earth, what I holding on to? Is there anything that acts as a weight as I race towards my Savior, Jesus Christ? Is it work, baseball, the Red Sox, friends, exercise…? The list can go on and on. C.S. Lewis claims at the beginning of his book that this is not supposed to be a factual or entirely truthful account of what happens after we die, but it does bring to light what leaves us in the dark, in other words what separates us from God. The truth is, we go through the same process as the ghosts every day, when I choose to watch Breakfast with the Sox or MLBN Quick Pitch instead of devotions, or pocket my whole paycheck instead of tithing, I’m holding back, I’m saying no to God when He calls me to leave the world behind. It’s never going to be easy, to give up the world and all it has to offer to pursue a life with God, but in the end it’s worth it. That’s why it’s the “Great Divorce” isn’t it, because a marriage between God and the world will never work out, as Jesus said we can’t serve two masters we need to make a choice.