One of the things I love about the collection of books that makes up the Bible we read is that they are full of stories. I am very sure that if it was just a statistical book it would be very boring and unlikely to transform anyone. Yet the power is in the story.
Something that a friend of mine said rang true to me. People who read about what happened 2000 years ago might need a lot of help to bridge the gaps – historical, cultural, geographical, etc. That is why the story we have to share today might go a long way to continue the story God starts in the Bible and will complete in eternity to come.
The words on the page is a story that becomes our story as we travel with Jesus. Just as those old stories relay failings as well as successes, the story of grace in our life is just as much about the mistakes, the set-backs, the falls, as it is about the victories, the comebacks and the wins in the face of adversity. The same Jesus who permeates the Scriptures is meant to permeate through our own story. Our words and examples may not be i holy writ, but the same Holy Spirit that authored what we consider Holy Scripture, is the same author who writes our story as we journey with Him. As a result we have as much to share about God’s work in our lives, as we do about what God has done to the heroes of faith.
In that sense, the issue is not at all about making a long story short, but about getting involved in other people’s stories the length and breadth of it, and then inviting them to be a part of another narrative. A narrative that is not about making a long story short at all, but unravelling the mysteries of eternity past to eternity present and how it results in a celebration in eternity to come all consummated in the man Jesus Christ.
There is a hymn that asks to be told the old, old story. Yet that old story is still fresh and new for us as we live it today, and new and fresh for those who have yet to hear it, yet to experience it, and yet to embrace it as we do. Today we have a chance to share that story and see the Storyteller do a miraculous work in the lives of the hearers.
For His Name’s Story
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
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