In The
Return of the King, the third book of Tolkien's Lord
of the Ring trilogy, Sam says, " What a tale we've been in, Mr. Frodo,
haven't we?... I wish I could hear it told!... And I wonder how it will go on
after our part." What a tale,
indeed! And that's the whole point:
If I really open my eyes, I find myself in a much, much larger Story, which
started at the beginning of time. Like Sam, I also wonder how it will go on
after my part. If the Book of
Acts is simply the first chapter of the History of the Church (which is not the
beginning of the Story), then we are about the 400th chapter of Acts.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in the petty details of my day-to-day living,
that I lose sight of the bigger Story.
"In the beginning, God
created the Heaven and Earth." Everything hinges on this.
Either God created everything, or He didn't.
If He created, He had a reason, and the Bible makes abundantly clear that
God's reason for creating us was have a relationship with us.
Once upon a time, I was a
Biology Major, steeped in the "Scientific Method", the objective
inquiry into the world around us. A
fundamental tenet of the Scientific Method is the understanding that my
conclusions can only be as accurate as my presuppositions.
In other words, if my presumptions that I bring to my
"experiment" are wrong already, my conclusions will necessarily be in
error.
If I correctly understand and
believe that I am living in a world created by God, and that I am created by God
because He wants to draw me to Himself, that presupposition affects my
conclusions, my behaviors, my relationships, my emotions, my values, my goals,
my purpose, everything. It gives me a reason for being! If,
on the other hand, I incorrectly presuppose that there is no God, then there is
no larger Story, because there is no Storyteller. All my actions will be based
on a false understanding of my relationship to the world, and the whole concept
of "purpose in life" evaporates. There is no purpose because there is
no larger Story.
Prayer:
"Lord, help me to understand
Your larger Story and my part in it. May
I live the life You created me to live, so that Your kingdom may come and Your
will be done on earth, as it already is in heaven.
Amen."
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