The Greatest Story Ever Told

I have had a book that has sat on my bookshelf for years collecting dust. I’m sad to say it’s a story of genuine worth, truth, and joy. Yet, I have never decided to flip through it and read its endless stories of good news and great joy. 

But recently, something changed.

I started using it as a study reference. 

It’s called, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. 

It’s the Bible. 

Written as if it were a novel. 

But there are several passages that I have pulled from my reads that I wish to highlight today; passages that set the stage for The Story. 

The first is by Lucado and Frazee themselves, stating,

“This book tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time: the story of a true God who loves his children, who established for them a way of salvation and provided a route to eternity. Each story in these 31 chapters reveals the God of grace - the God who speaks; the God who acts; the God who listens; the God whose love for his people culminated in his sacrifice of Jesus, his only son, to atone for the sins of humanity. What’s more: this same God is alive and active today.”

“What more: this God is alive and active today.”

The God of grace, the one who speaks, the one who acts, the one who listens, and the one whose love for his people culminated through the story of Jesus Christ. 

I needed that reminder that God listens; always has and always will, even when I feel like there is static on the other line. 

“His grace extends to our daily foibles; our ups, downs, and in-betweens; our moments of questions and fears; and most important, our response to his call on our lives.”

He is listening, alive, and active. The beginning and the end. 

This reminder of the extension of His grace was music to my ears. 

His grace extends to all aspects of our lives. 

The good, the bad, and the ugly. 

The pair continue to preface The Story writing,

“The Bible is filled with exciting and intense stories of love, war, birth, death and miracles. There’s poetry, culture, history and theology. It’s a suspense novel, a book of sociology,  a history lesson - all woven around one eternal conflict: good versus evil…But​ The Story you’re reading isn’t any ordinary story. You are reading a story that has the power to change who you are, what you think and how you view life. You are exposing yourself to deep, transforming truth. So sit back and enjoy the truest, greatest story ever written.” 

The greatest story ever written. 

The creator of the universe left us a book, and it’s the greatest story ever told, and all we have to do is dedicate a few moments of our daily lives to learning, growing and becoming more like Him; to better understand and know Him, His people and His purpose for our lives. 

Don’t let the greatest story ever told sit on your shelf collecting dust the way mine has. 

Don’t ignore the words God left behind, because He left them behind for you, and He is just waiting for you to flip to page one. 

Trust me, it’s a choice you will never grow to regret.