TELL ME THE STORIES OF JESUS

“You become a combination of the five books

you have spent the most time with in your life. 

Choose wisely.”

This was a statement posted on facebook that interested me.  It made me think about the many books I have read in my lifetime, but the few I would say I spent time with.  The five are: 1. The Bible 2. Walden, by Thoreau

3. Journal of a Solitude, by May Sarton, 4. Wintering, by Diana Kappel-Smith

5. Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen.  All of these books are non-fiction, tell true stories, and are personal journals or memoirs of life transformation. 

I like real stories about people’s lives.  Even as a kid I liked reading biographies of heroes and famous people.  I sometimes enjoyed fiction such as Nancy Drew, Little Women, and Fairytales, but simply being entertained seemed short lived to me.  I wanted real examples, real mentors to follow after.  I wanted to know how these people managed and lived their lives.  I still enjoy listening to people share the stories of their lives, the good stuff and the bad stuff.

I think that is why I love to read the Bible.  Even as a kid I loved hearing and reading the stories of the heroes of faith in the Bible.  As I got older I found it interesting to read how people in those olden days dealt with life situations and following Jesus as he interacted with people and how those people responded to that interaction.  It made God and Jesus a very real part of my life.  It is the story of God’s interactions with individuals that formed my faith early on in my life and continues to do so now.

The Bible is a wonderful book and can be read in many ways.  I believe it is inspired by God and is faithfully interpreted by the Holy Spirit.  I love to study it and find God’s Truth for my life.  I love to meditate on it and enjoy God’s communion with me.  I love to look at all of the stories of the individuals interacting one-on-one with God and Jesus and see how that interaction affects them.  Those interactions and responses become life lessons for me.  It’s not just relating events to me, it is creating a relationship with me; it’s not just communicating words to me, it is creating communion with me; it’s not just providing information for me, it is creating intimacy with me.  The Bible is God breathed as I am and therefore is full of life which grows in me the more time I spend with it.

I remember hearing a minister say, “I don’t want to hear what the Bible says to you; I want to hear what the Bible says.”  In my head I understood what he was saying.  I am aware of the relativistic world I live in and that the Truth of the Scriptures must be protected.  But if the Bible isn’t taken personally to people then what is the purpose of the Truth that it proclaims?  For me the Bible isn’t just a book filled with good and sound doctrine that relates and communicates the Truth.  To me it is also a book filled with stories of real life that brings people intimately into personal relationship and communion with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  It is out of that intimate relationship and communion that I desire to know all I can about God and will read, meditate, and study the Bible with my heart set on finding Truth, treasuring and obeying what I find.