In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[Genesis 1:1 KJV]
Many stories begin with “In the beginning.” Fairytale stories often end with, “They lived happily ever after.”
We all have a life story to tell. That may sound cliche, but, since each of us has a life, that means we all have a story. When we meet someone new part of the conversation often involves telling them something about our lives. Depending on how comfortable we are with our story we might tell them full truths or partial truths. We might give actual details about our lives or skirt details with jokes. If we feel our lives haven’t lived up to what we had hoped we might embellish the details or use words that describe the truth but sound much better than reality. No matter how we tell it, we tell a story, our story.
Our life stories do start with “In the beginning” but not all end with “lived happily ever after.” There is a poem written by Linda Elis called “The Dash.” The “dash” is the line one sees on a tombstone. It is the line between the year born and the year died. When one looks at the stone, and the dates, the question is what was their life like? What was their story? What does that line represent? How did their story begin? How did their story end?
God has a story. It is a grand story. A story that starts from having always been to ending with always will be – the Alpha and the Omega. [Revelation 1:8] When God created us He gave us time between two earthly dates, only He knows the length of time. [Psalms 139:16] No matter the amount of time between those two dates, God gave us that length of time for a purpose. We are part of His story.
We are given our lives to live it for Christ. [Galatians 2:20] Some of us are using our story line in the ecclesia, on the front lines, in the public eye fighting for the nation and for God’s truth to be front and center. Some of us are using our lines to fight for our businesses and our families, especially over the last year. Others of us use our lines to take care of our homes and spouses and to spend time in prayer over those whom we love and those on the front lines. And, some of us use our line to take our God given gifts into other’s homes to help care for them because they can no longer care for themselves. Those are just a some of the story lines we have as creations of God. There are many, many more. Every line, though, can be used for God’s story, God’s purpose.
God’s story has a beginning and definitely ends with a happily ever after. Every part of His story is truth. He does not need to embellish on His story. If anything, He keeps it simple as he knows our human minds can’t comprehend the glory that we will experience. But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” [1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV] He gave us an earthly beginning and end, but for those of us who follow Christ, our story line does not end at the tombstone. Our earthly story line ends there, but our eternal story line is just beginning at that point!
| Verses |
| I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End, the First and the Last. Blessed [are] those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. [Revelation 22:13-14 NKJV] He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! [Revelation 22:20 NKJV] This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” [Romans 1:17 NLT] For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time–to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. [2 Timothy 1:9 NLT] |
| Music |
| Alan Jackson – Blessed Assurance (Live) Steven Curtis Chapman – The Great Adventure Steven Curtis Chapman – Glorious Unfolding (Official Lyric Video) Steven Curtis Chapman – Do Everything Lincoln Brewster ~ God Of The Impossible (Lyrics) Sidewalk Prophets- Impossible (Official Music Video) |
| Prayer |
| Dear Jesus, Thank you for making it possible for our story line to continue on in eternity with you. Our story lines may seem like not much to us but we know God gave us a story line on purpose to use for His good. Help us know how to use our story line for you. Give us wisdom and guidance. And, Lord, for anyone who may not feel like their story line is working for you, please touch their hearts and give them peace. Envelop them in your love. We know you use all of us no matter what we are doing. Jesus, we look forward to continuing our story line with you in eternity. In Jesus Name, Amen. |
