A story

When was the last time you read the Bible as a story? I don't know about you but when I read the Bible I think of theology and how much knowledge I can gain from it. It's not very often that I think of it as a story. There is a big difference and it should grab our attention. A lot of Christians like sitting down with a theology book and learning new things and becoming familiar with new Ideas (and those are very good things!) but I believe there is a danger of reading too much theology and not enough story. When was the last time you sat down with a good fiction book? A fiction book that was filled with enjoyable, good, and wholesome story in it? Those fiction books are like small mirrors or copycats of the stories of the Bible.

The Bible is not primarily a theology book that we simply go to to learn something new. That is only part of it. The Bible is a huge book of stories. Take the first story. There was nothing but God. Now God is creating! Now there is a world! It just keeps building and building and it keeps your attention as a wonderful story. A lot of the time the theology is easy to see and get, but it is the story that we miss or don't understand. I believe we can become better equipped to read the Bible when we read good fiction. Not only does it train us to read the Bible better but this also helps us learn about our own world and our own life. Something might happen to you during the day such a seeing a friend. Later, you could read that same event in the book that you are reading. Good stories are the ones that truly and accurately reflect life.

Reading the Bible as a story is important. This is an area I need to work on. What about you? Do you like fiction books? Maybe you aught to go read one right now. It will definitely help you read the Bible better.