How Good Of A Shadow Are You?

Remember Peter Pan – the boy from Never-Never land? I remember a part of the story where Peter got separated from his shadow, and his friend, Wendy, had to sew them back together. Cute story, though of course, it’s only make-believe. But have you ever stopped to consider shadows? In reality, my shadow doesn't have a mind of its own. It does exactly what I do. It follows my every move. If it ever did move independently, I'd probably start running. (But then, how do you outrun your own shadow, anyway?) Smile.

Anyway, when I was little, my grandmother used to quote a poem that I loved written by famous children's poet, Robert Louis Stevenson:

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow.

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow.

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;

I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

So my mind goes meandering off in odd directions sometimes and this time, here's what it came up with... as described in this poem, we should become shadows of Christ. God wants to make us “very, very like” His Son. Without the sun, there are no shadows. So we should only be a reflection of the true Son. When we see a shadow move, we often look to see what caused it. Our actions should cause others to notice the reason behind them – our love and obedience of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved and obeyed His Father. 

In the poem, it talks about how close the shadow sticks to the person. We must also “stay so close beside” Jesus that every action is directed by Him, not because we are cowards, but because we love Him.

Shadows also have different growing patterns depending on the location of the sun. Sometimes the shadow is like an "india-rubber ball" and sometimes it's very small. We should never try to become greater than God, but rather we should attempt to “get small”. John 3:30 says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” We must only be a shadow, directing attention to the Maker of the shadow - never drawing attention to ourselves, but following always each action of our Savior. 

Let's not be lazy and "stay in bed" or at home, refusing to follow the Lord. Instead, let's work on sticking to Him like a shadow, and who knows? We may find some blessings growing and shining forth in our lives!