Ben Fourie

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us through his Son.”  Hebrews 1:1-2

Stories make up the fabric of our lives. Every day we create new stories by what we do, where we go and by what we say. We communicate with each other by telling stories. These stories are not fairy-tales or fables but true stories about how we experience life, our jobs, our families and many other things.

The Bible is also a wonderful “Storybook” that tells us how God deals with us. In the Old Testament we read stories about how God created everything, how He called together His chosen people and accompanied them through their slavery in Egypt, their journey through the desert and their entry into the Promised Land. It also tells the sad story of their turning away from God, their worshipping of a golden calf and many other idols and their exile in Babylon. Fortunately it also tells us the beautiful story of their return to the Holy Land in the time of Esra and Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.

The different accounts of the Gospel give us the story of how Jesus interacted with this world and its people when He was here in the flesh. The Acts of the Apostles portrays the start of His church and the different letters by writers like Peter and Paul, is the story of the growth of His church in the world. The New Testament ends with the great story of the Book of Revelation where God reveals to us His involvement in the past, present and future of His church.

Jesus used many stories from everyday life. After one such story in Matthew 13, the disciples asked Him in verse 10: “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” Jesus sums up His answer in verse 13: “The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand.”

Jesus is using stories to help us understand something about the kingdom of God and to help us realise our role in making His kingdom more visible in the world every day. In the next few weeks we will look at one of His parables each day to help us understand life and our own life story better.

Prayer: Lord please help me to understand how I can live my life-story to your honour. Amen