The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy is the story of an orphan who discovers his true identity as a prince with a twin brother. Clearly the message for us, as Christians, when we read this story is to relate to this theme of being an orphan without a true sense of who we are in Christ. When we try to live without Christ in our life we certainly act in the ways that orphan would. And when we realize who our true Father is, it changes the way we act. We are children of God who have been cared for and loved.

Within this story, Shasta, the orphan, and Bree, a talking horse that had been kidnapped from Narnia as a young colt, flee to the north in order to escape their owners. In their adventure they meet up with two others that are trying to escape to the land of Narnia, Arivis, a daughter promised to be married to a man she did not know or love, and her horse, Hwin, another talking horse stolen from Narnia. It is no coincidence that they found each other in this adventure as Aslan arranged the entire meeting through his chase he gave them in the woods.

As they pursued their goal of freedom in Narnia it was clear that Aslan had a greater purpose for them and especially for Shasta. He would be the one that continued on in the journey alone to warn the Kings and Queens of Narnia that war was coming. Shasta, through this adventure, came to realize that his father was the King of Archenland, and he was a part of the royal family. His new status was almost unbelieveable to a young man who thought he was an orphan his whole life.

It is clear that C.S. Lewis had a underlying theme for us to pay special attention to. As a Christian, we often start our Christian walk looking for personal freedom from the things that we have been enslaved by, but God has shown us, through the process of sanctification, that our freedom or salvation is not the end goal of our walk with God. We have a greater purpose in the battle, just like Shasta. He was given his freedom in Narnia, and given his royal status in Archenland, but given purpose by Aslan. His status as a child belonging to Aslan lead him to greater purpose than a personal desire to be free. Rather he wanted to do the will of the one who had freed him. It is same for us in our Christian walk. We are not saved for freedom so that we can do what we want. We are saved for the purpose of obedience and showing glory to God our Father and His will to be done in us.