It continually fascinates me that the bible is not simply a book of lists or instructions
Would be so much easier
But that somehow God is his infinite wisdom chose to reveal himself as a storyteller … and of this I am convinced that he is still revealing himself in the same way in our day.
His revelation and stories are no longer thru Abraham and Hosea and Jeremiah … but through the lives of ordinary believers
So lets look at this part of the story
We have to imagine ourselves not as key players in the story but as bystanders …
Imagine being in the village when the news breaks that that Mary is pregnant!
She is engaged … which meant much more then than it does today … in those days to break an engagement was a similar process to getting a divorce … engagement was a legally binding contract … engaged partners were referred to as husband and wife they were for all intents and purposes married but with out the privilege of physical intimacy
For Mary to have been unfaithful during this time was considered to be adultery … she could have been judged publicly and if found guilty stoned to death
And by the time this is recorded, historians tell us that she was about 4 months pregnant there was no hiding it!
What shame this could have brought on Mary and Joseph as well as their families
Can you imagine the whispers in the crowd at the market place and at the well?
So Mary pregnant hey? … obviously Joseph decided to get a head start on the marriage thing!
Maybe it wasn’t Joseph?
Maybe she has been stepping out on him?
Now can you imagine living with that shame and it taking 30 + years before at the cross it declared surely this man was the Son of God!
Thirty years imagine living that story for the Glory of God!
But you also have to wonder what Mary and Joseph did on a day-to-day Basis … the baby after all had to be fed and cleaned and bathed and looked after … you see God the storyteller works thru the ordinary events of our lives
But back to our story
The creator of the universe, the King of kings, born in a barn. God is unveiling a new economy ... an economy of grace
The news of the Savior’s birth is not announced to the cultural elites or the middle class, but to shepherds. Smelly, unkempt, hill-dwelling, bottom-caste outsiders. And to add insult to injury, the signs of the Savior’s birth are comprehended not by the religious but by the Magi, about whom we know very little.
The Scriptures tell us that something cataclysmic was going on. As Mary labored, an evil stirred that was so great, that it called for the blood of all Bethlehem’s infant sons.
Only God the storyteller could come up with a story as magnificent and as intriguing as this
Jesus is THE story of History … He is the central theme … the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end … the author and finisher of our faith …
But as I have said … I believe God wants to write his story on our hearts and tell the story of His goodness and grace through our lives today
You see when we put our lives in His hands we become his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) … that word is more closely aligned with “Poem” … we become his poem of love and grace to those around us
At times we can feel as if we are out of control … but God is never out of control His is omniscient … all knowing
He is omnipotent … all powerful
he is Omnipresent … everywhere at the same time and He is:
The centerpiece of civilization
He is the central them of scripture and of all theology
In Genesis … he is the creator
In Exodus he is our deliverer leader
In Leviticus he is our High Priest
In Joshua He is the captain of our salvation
In The psalms he is the Lord our shepherd
In proverbs he is the wisdom of God
In Matthew He is the Messiah
In Mark he is the Miracle worker
In Luke he is the Son of man
In John he is the Son of God
And we can go through all of scripture like that until we get to the book of Revelation where he is The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
The Alpha and the Omega
The lion of the tribe of Judah
The lamb who was slain
The word of God
The bright morning star
When we put our lives in the hands of the storyteller our story becomes His story through us.
The ark (Genesis 6) … very detailed instructions for how to build the ark and yet there is no mention of a rudder or sails the two things that could have been used by Noah and the people on the Ark to steer …
And yet those 8 people in that ark represented the whole future of mankind.
See our lives in God’s hands is really the safest place we can be.
The safest place on earth during the flood was in the Ark!
Only God the Storyteller can come up with stories as magnificent as this. What are the stories He wants to tell this year, through your life / your marriage / your finances / your children?
you have so much in your heart Terry. Love your blog. It is rich with God's wonders. Keep writing. Such relevant issues. Well done!
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