Acts 13

A lot of times I've found that we get so bogged down into the stories in the Bible that we forget the awesome power of the story OF the Bible. Here, I see the wonderful way God used Paul's tears of studying the stories of the Bible to reveal the grand story of the Bible. He weaved through the main points but instead of it being about the individual points, he connected the dots.

And what was the result when Paul got out of the way and just let the power of God's big story unfold? The next week the entire city turned out. Many turned to Christ and the ones who didn't became enraged and only wanted to get rid of him. That's the power of the pure unadulterated story of the Bible. God's plan for the redemption of mankind through Christ. People either drop to their knees and repent or they turn away and run from it.

So, if you can reflect on your life and not observe on of those two results: adoring abandon or passionate resistance, then I would suggest that maybe you have not fully comprehended the story of the Bible. Maybe the gospel you have been preached had to much stories and not enough Jesus. I don't know if that line is clear enough for you to see it from where you sit, but when I see people who profess to be Christians that aren't just madly in love with their Creator God who put on a flesh suit to rescue us from hell and free us from a life of sin, then I can only conclude that they must not have been completely clear of the miraculous grace we have been offered.

Anyway, maybe that won't make sense to others, but when I see Paul so brilliantly laying out the offer of salvation here, it inspires me to want to share God's story this clearly and earnestly. What's your response?