Spiritual Insight from Kung Fu Panda

This morning I am a bit tickled. I woke up with my husband and we were watching Kung Fu Panda. I love this movie, if you haven;t seen the movie, the story is about this large awkward Panda named Po who makes noddle soup just like his father, who is actually a goose. His dad expects Po to follow in his footsteps, but all Po thinks about and dreams about is Kung Fu. The problem is Pandas, esp this panda are large, clumsy and really doesn't even know kung fu. There is a legend in this town that one day the great kung fu master will choose the great dragon warrior who will receive a scroll with the dragon secret inside of it. Well the day has come and of course Po plans to be there and watch. In the process of Po trying to get to this ceremony he ends up being shot up in the air by fireworks and land smack in the middle of the tournament, right in front of the great master with the great masters finger in his face hearing "you", "your the one, the dragon warrior". Po along with everyone else knows there is something wrong with this picture, but the great master assures him there are no accidents. Po is sure that he is not the dragon warrior, but he wants to be so bad that he stays.
The turning point came when the new great Master Shefu, come to believe in Po, and takes him to a secret place to offer to teach Po kung fu, and be his Master. Po sees that Shefu believes in him and he gladly accepts. Po puts himself under Shefu's authority and submits himself to Shefu's rigorous training regimen. The transformation is historical.
Po then becomes the dragon warrior, receiving the scroll he reads it and to his disappointment all he sees is his own reflection. After dealing with a spout of doubt, he realizes that the secret to being the dragon warrior is there is no secret at all, that who he is in the inside is all it takes. He returns to defeat the enemy of his village and then accepts his new identity as Dragon Warrior!

I couldn't help but to see myself in Po; awkward, unsure, full of lacking, and the most unlikely of heroes. But somehow, there is no mistake. God has chosen me and you (Isaiah 43:1) He has chosen us to be his great warriors; to "bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God." Isaiah 61:1-3

And while some of us may not see this at all, Jesus still call you out with a finger in your face saying "You, your the one." There are no accidents, in fact His very Spirit is upon us; and he anointed us. (Isa 61:1) He wants to be our master, and to teach us and train us into the warrior he knows we are, the warrior he destined us to be. And then when we look at the scroll of our lives, the historical transformation we see when we gaze into it, is the very reflection of Jesus Christ, saying back at us "well done good and faithful servant."

Can you imagine? How awesome would that be. I want to be trained by the great master, who by the way has defeated the most deadly enemy in the history of mankind and beyond. We can say "NO!" to the other masters in our lives weather it be recognition from others, food, money, alcohol, sex, our children, friends, job, spouse, the career path or anything else, and transfer all that dependence onto our new master - Jesus. How about you; are you game?

If so, lets start by letting Jesus know that he is now master and we are not.

Dear Jesus,
Thank you that you see the greatness in me that I don't really see. Thank you that you put that greatness in me by entering my very life. I realize now that I am not meant to be master but you are Master and Lord. Help me to become the person you want me to be. Amen.