In theatres now, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth and final instalment in the iconic series.

Saving the World

Indiana “Indy” Jones (Harrison Ford), the thrill-seeking but aging archeologist, is set to retire when Helena Shaw (Phoebe WallerBridge), his goddaughter, comes to him with a problem.

Her father, an old friend of Indy’s, had told her of an ancient artifact—a dial—that could change the course of history. Although the quest for the dial ruined her father’s life, Helena is determined to find it, dragging Indy into her own search.

The film is set in 1969 during the height of the space race, and Indy becomes suspicious when he learns that the government of the United States has recruited former Nazis to work as scientists in their space program. 

An old rival of Indy’s, Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), is one of the former Nazis who is now working on the Apollo moon landing program, and Indy suspects he has evil intent. When Indy first encounters him, he asks, “My memory’s a little fuzzy. Are you still a Nazi?”

It turns out that Jürgen is also searching for the dial, planning to use it to rewrite history and correct the mistakes that Hitler made in his bid to rule the world.

Can Indy and Helena find the Dial of Destiny and save the world from Jürgen’s evil plan?

How many of us have wished for a device that could change the course of history? DIANE STARK

Looking Backward

How many of us have wished for a device that could change the course of history? Maybe not world history, but our own personal history. 

Most of us probably have a few regrets in life, things that, given the opportunity, we’d go back in time and change. Maybe we’d want to choose another career, marry a different person or undo a mistake. It’s easy to think about our current circumstances and point to a moment in our past when everything went wrong. 

But we don’t have a Dial of Destiny, and time doesn’t work in reverse. Our past—the good and the bad—is part of who we are today. In the movie, Helena encourages Indy by saying, “You’ve taken your chances, made your mistakes and, now, one final triumph.”

We might agree we’ve done the first two things, though we might doubt a final triumph is coming our way. But if we are Christians, the Bible promises us the most wonderful triumph we can imagine at the end of our lives: Spending an eternity in heaven with God.

Moving Forward

In the movie, Indy says, “I don’t believe in magic, but a few times in my life, I’ve seen things I can’t explain. I’ve come to believe it’s not so much what you believe. It’s how hard you believe it.” 

While this might be true when fighting Nazis and searching for ancient artifacts, it’s not true in matters of faith. What we believe is everything. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins is the only way to heaven. Accepting His sacrifice on our behalf is the only route to that final triumph. We must believe that, but Jesus understands that we’ll still have doubts sometimes. In fact, He once told His disciples that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed, they’d be able to move a mountain and that nothing would be impossible for them (see Matthew 17:20).

Turns out, we don’t need a Dial of Destiny to change our past. Jesus erased our sins on the cross. All we have to do is believe and then move forward in His love and forgiveness.

Illustration: Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

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