My friend Kim Whitaker and I talked last week about how much we love a good story. It can be a fanciful fictional fable or a tantalizing true tale. Good stories can teach, inspire, and motivate. They can muster belly laughs or tearful emotions. A well-timed story inserted into even the most boring lectures can captivate our wandering attention. Stories stick.
Good bedtime stories often stir children’s imaginations. They have favorites they want to listen to over and over. Stories on the big screen have the power to cause even the most rambunctious little ones to sit perfectly still. They may have seen “Frozen” or “The Little Mermaid” a hundred times but are always ready to watch it one more time. Stories spellbind.
The elements of every good story are the same. There are heroes, villains, and supporting characters who rise and fall with the plot within a well-described setting. They delight, intrigue, and fascinate us until “they all lived happily ever after.” Stories satisfy.
God created the most extraordinary story of all time and has graciously allowed us to step into it. This year, I chose a different sort of Bible for 2024. It is the Day-by-Day Chronological Bible with Daily Readings Guided by Dr. George H. Guthrie. (That’s a mouthful, I know.) After a week, I am hooked! This arrangement of Scripture forces one to focus on God’s word as a story – a true story. God is not only the author but also the heroic main character.
Through the creation story, we see how God was intentional in the process of creating our amazing world for us to enjoy. Even when Adam and Eve rebelled, God’s great love and mercy reigned supreme. God had a well-thought-out plan to redeem His precious creation from Noah to Abraham, Jacob to Moses, Joshua to David, Solomon to Zedikiah, and Elijah to Malachi. He would send His Son to teach us all how to love Him and one another. His Son would also teach us how to die to ourselves so that we can make our way back to the Garden that God originally intended for us to enjoy.
More than anything, God wants us in a loving relationship with Him. After we accept Jesus as our Lord, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. He empowers us to resist sin and revel in our standing as children of the King. God placed us in families to help us get an inkling of His love. He put our families into His family – the church.
The growth of the church always fascinates me. To know that you and I are a part of that ongoing storyline is incredibly overwhelming. The sacrificial work of the apostles, Paul, Luke, Timothy, Titus, James, and Jude, convicts, inspires and motivates.
If you’ve been around church life for years, you may have read through the Bible several times. You may know all the characters in all the stories and even studied all the settings. I hope you’ve become intimate friends with the Hero of the story we find ourselves in the middle of.
Sadly, I once haphazardly read Scripture because I knew it was the Christian thing to do. It did not satisfy. I’ve cherry-picked verses to prove I was right about some theological point. It did not stick. Yet, when I began reading it as a story written by my very best friend, I became spellbound. I want to read it over and over again. God’s tantalizing true story continues to teach, inspire, and motivate us to return to the Garden. With this story, we can all live happily ever after!
What is your plan for reading God’s story this year?
“But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” (Jeremiah 20:9 NLT)
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P.S. By the way, Kim Whitaker has a new book out, Finding the Pieces. Its pages drip with stories of divine appointments and God’s providence, protection, and provision. You may laugh out loud at times and blink through tears at others. Order your copy today (click here) and travel along with Kim. To quote another good friend, “Kim is the most fascinating person I know!” And if you’ve ever wanted to travel to Italy, her stories will take you by the hand and lead you through her narrow streets.
