“Taken” with my Hero

I went to lunch at an Indian buffet (of course) with a couple girlfriends for my birthday this week. Somehow in the conversation, one of my friends mentioned the movie, “Taken.” It’s a psychological action-packed suspense thriller from 2008 with Liam Neeson. I sat on the edge of my seat as my friend explained how the movie began and the basic gist of the movie. Now, this isn’t the type of movie I normally see. My closest friends all know that I’m not into serious films but that I like funny, zany comedies and entertaining shows. But something about my friend’s description of the movie, “Taken,” intrigued me. I rented it for that night to watch with a friend.

I don’t want to give away too much but the basic gist of the movie is that Liam Neeson plays a retired spy and has one child, a teenage daughter, who travels to Europe with a friend. His daughter gets abducted not for ransom but to be sold into sex trafficking. Then the race is on for Liam to find his daughter in less than 96 hours before she disappears, never to be found again.

As I watched the film, I was amazed at the love and extreme dedication Liam had to find his daughter at any and all costs, even at the expense of his own life if necessary. Even though it was a psychological action-packed suspense thriller, the movie made a strong spiritual impression on me. I imagined that the child in the movie was me, lost and taken by enemies, and that the kick-ass father was Jesus fighting to find me and save my life, who would stop at nothing to find me. I believe Jesus fought for all of us but would have been willing to fight and suffer even for just one of us…and that includes you.

Photo by Dhyamis Kleber from Pexels

After watching this movie, I became so grateful that I had a hero in my Savior Jesus Christ who could fight all my enemies, even sin and death. I thought of the hymn this morning, “I Stand All Amazed.” From the first two verses, I cry and sing with the angels: “I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine.” “I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, that for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.” And then the refrain, “Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!”

I share my witness of my Savior Jesus Christ and that I’m so grateful that I’m important enough to Him to be worth His soul-saving efforts. If you elect to see the movie again or for the first time, try envisioning Jesus as the hero who cares for us so deeply as God’s children that He risks His life to save us. In the movie, the daughter may have been “Taken” but I am taken with my hero, the Savior of all humankind.