Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Narnia: "Voyage of the Dawn Treader"

C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a story about a troublesome child, Eustace.

Eustace's Problem
Eustace is consumed by laziness, greed, and selfishness. When he visits the land of Narnia with Edmund and Lucy, he immediately causes trouble aboard the ship. He skips out on work in order to play, and he steals. His actions eventually lead him down a path of self-destruction and turn him into a dragon.

When Eustace wakes as a dragon, he becomes afraid and discouraged. He tries doing things to make up for his sins—the bad things he does and thinks. He helps build the camps and defend the ship. However, he finds he is more in the way than helpful. Worst of all nobody knows how to help him. So, he sinks into a sense of hopelessness.

Aslan's Solution
Late one night when Eustace was regretting all that had happened, Aslan—the lion, came to him. Aslan led him to a well, peeled the dragon scales off him and threw him into the well. The water cleansed Eustace's body.

Author C.S. Lewis explains at the end of the book, "You'd never know [Eustace] for the same boy." Eustace endured this experience in order to prepare himself for his return to Narnia, where Aslan would give him a very special mission.

Our Problem
We are often led astray from the path that God wants us to follow. Our sins (the bad things we do and say) separate us from God.

The Bible says, "All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

Like Eustace many of us lose hope and try to make up for the bad things by doing good deeds, but these good deeds are not good enough.

God's Solution
Salvation from our sins can only be found through Jesus Christ. God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to rescue us from our sins. Christ died for our sins. He took our punishment on Himself and died in our place on the cross. He was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

The Bible says, "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Your Response

Place your trust in Jesus Christ today. He will forgive you of your sins and give you the gift of everlasting life.

The American Tract Society, 2010. Used with Permission.