One of the most beautiful places I have ever visited is Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. Its stonewall Medieval architecture and fine, elaborate details never cease to mesmerize me. At night, I marvel at its elegant iridescence as hues of pink and blue glow amid a blanket of pitch black. This summer I took a trip to Disneyland where I met animated characters brought to life, watched performances with special effects and fireworks, and saw the magnificent Sleeping Beauty Castle. When I saw the castle, I couldn’t help but think of this magical monument as a concrete paradigm of a profound truth. The building reminded of how we construct castles of meanings for ourselves throughout our lives and the biblical tenor of this reality.

We are all created as beings of worship and desire, whether we adhere to an organized religion/deity or not. In other words, there are things in our lives we look to for fulfillment and purpose. And in a world that is constantly vying for our affection, we subconsciously become devout worshipers of these things. Some people build their castles of meaning by being wealthy, having a happy family, graduating from a dream university, being beautiful and popular; the list goes on. My castle of meaning was built on my American Dream— a successful career and thriving marriage. But as noble as these things are, the end is all the same: we all die. Even if I were to gain everything I have ever dreamed of, one day I will die and lose all these things in an instant. But this sobering reality of death and vanity of life compel me to turn my gaze to the gospel.

The eternal triune God who created the universe is perfectly Just, Holy, and Righteous. Since the day Adam and Eve believed the serpent’s lie and ate the forbidden fruit, humankind fell under the curse of sin and death. We are all sinners by our nature and deserve death (both physical and eternal separation in Hell) as the penalty of our sin. But God made a way for sinners to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. The eternal Son of God took on human flesh and died a brutal death on the cross for our sins, bearing the wrath of God. He later victoriously rose from the dead. Those who repent and place their faith in the finished work and person of Christ will be saved. Salvation is a gift of God received solely by His Grace through faith in Christ.

We are all worshipers who spend our whole lives building these castles of meaning for ourselves. But these castles that we place at the pinnacle of our narratives, however beautiful they are, are temporary. The world and everything in it is fading. Everything we hold dear is worthless compared to the eternal and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. What is 80+ years of your best life now, with all your dreams come true and most prized possessions, compared to an eternity without Christ in Hell? My prayer is that you would turn your gaze away from temporary things and toward something greater, transcendent, and eternal. Look to Christ.