Living Volumes of God
Yesterday was thanksgiving. One of the things I am most thankful for is my heritage. I was thinking about my grandparents in particular and how they immigrated 99 years ago arriving at Ellis Island on thanksgiving day 1925. They were young and in love and people of great faith. It is their faith in a loving God that has nurtured my own faith. I wasn't born a christian as that is not "a thing", but I had the advantage to not only have parents of faith, but grandparents of faith as well.
I sat down after eating my thanksgiving meal and decided to re-read my grandfather's book. It is very simply titled Streets of Gold and Land of Milk and Honey. In his own words he wrote his life story in a very short 77 page book. He wasn't a man of many words, just a man of great wisdom and experience. His life produced 3 children, 12 grandchildren and countless great grandchildren and great great grandchildren to this point. He began a business and invented some amazing things along the way. He was a member of the Gideons and lived his life sharing the word of God with many people. He was a true philanthropist to his hometown in Germany after World War 2. He was well-loved and remembered with fondness by many.
I share this story because driving home from work Wednesday I heard a new old song on the radio. Several years ago Michael W. Smith wrote a song called My Place in this World. The christian music group For King and Country has a remake out featuring Michael W. Smith. I hear it on the radio every day and I can't help but sing along. The first verse of the song started me thinking, especially this phrase.
"A life of pages waiting to be filled."
The thought occurred to me, that while we see our lives as blank pages waiting to be filled God has already read the book cover to cover. We are all part of His library of adventures, love stories, comedies, tragedies, and so much more. He knows our beginning middle and end. He is the enormously prolific author of many lives, though not in the way someone who doesn't know Him might imagine. He doesn't control us like puppets, but He knows each volume intimately. Even if we don't have that relationship yet, or never do come to have that close relationship with God, He knows us. He knows the cover and the contents. He has written into our lives all that we will become. It is up to us to live that story and fill the pages. It is one of those mysteries of God that we cannot fully understand in this life and must take by faith.
I was reminded again of the story of Job. We read in that story about the man and his love for God. But we see Job from God's point of view as well. God knew Job would never curse him and so he allowed Satan to do his worst. You see, God had read Job's story long before he was born. He had every confidence that Job would stand strong in the face of adversity. I love Job's statement to his wife when she said, "curse God and die." He answered, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
He also says this in chapter 1, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
That is amazing!
His perspective on life was that everything even his very breath was from God. Why should he complain? God is God and there is no other. He knew His creator and was grateful for the things God had blessed him with. He recognized God's sovereign nature and was okay with whatever came his way. But the coolest part of this whole story is when God speaks to him at the end recounting all of the fantastic wonders of creation. The picture He paints is almost like one out of a fantasy story of dragons and great places far away and unseen by man. When He is done He restores to Job more than he had originally lost. With all the great and amazing other things in creation, He showed JOB just how much He loved him.
What does the cover to your life look like? What about the pages? What adventures have you lived? What love story has caused you swoon? What about the comedy, the times you laughed so hard you almost wet yourself? How about the sorrow, the pain, the struggle? Every good book that is worth reading has all these elements. It takes you up and down and spins you around and causes so many emotions to rise and fall in your soul. That is your story. It is your life - the good, the bad and the crazy! God has read all about you. Now is time to fill those empty pages. We do it without thinking most days. We just live day to day doing what we need to survive. Perhaps if we saw our lives like books building to that amazing end when we meet Jesus face to face, we might be more present or purposeful in our own lives.
What if in God's great library your story was placed next to a whole bunch of other stories and they interacted? That is essentially what relationships are all about. Living breathing novels interacting with each other. Connecting in the stories of life. We have a life with empty pages that need to be filled, but so do others. Many of those that we are next to on a shelf haven't found their place in the world. They are searching for meaning, love, excitement, happiness, peace or just a place to belong. They look around at all other volumes and wonder where do they fit in? What is their purpose? Maybe they see their story as hopeless or uninteresting. Perhaps they view themselves much like a 1970s phone book, many acquaintences who have come and gone but no one really remembers to call. Perhaps they are more like an encyclopedia full of facts but no love. Or maybe they are like a book full of dad jokes poking fun at life, but empty in real content.
We are "living volumes" of literary works of art placed in the library by the author God, exactly where He needs us to be. If you look at the Bible itself it is full of stories of people who lived and changed the world. For example, Esther was placed next to the King of Babylon. Her story became intertwined with his and because of this she had the opportunity to save her people. Joseph was placed next to the baker and the cupbearer of pharaoh and then next to pharaoh himself so his life could serve God's greater purpose. Moses was drawn out of the Nile by the daughter of Pharaoh to save the nation of Israel and fulfill God's promise to Abraham of a homeland. God had all these stories written in advance. This is why his prophets could so accurately predict the astounding life of Jesus!
Imagine Jesus - His story is the greatest of all. His volume is at the center of the library. It is wide open and shining bright for all to see. His story is written throughout scripture, first as prophecies and then His life, death, resurrection and His imminent return! The Bible is God's handbook, but more precisely His love story for mankind. Maybe we are where we need to be so we can nudge the book next to us and say, "You see that? That is greatest story of all, and His life was given so we might know the author and how much He loves us. That volume is the light of the world. I can introduce you. It will change your story in ways you never thought possible. It is a 'must read' "
Imagine Jesus picking up your book and turning it over in his hands and smiling remembering what is written there. He walks around the library then smiles a big smile and places you on a shelf far away from where you once were. Here you sit next to all these strange volumes covered in dust, some are very weary looking. You are out of place, and a bit uncomfortable. Something stands out to you as you look around at the surrounding books. They were all authored by the same person, God. They are different than you, but you realize they are loved by the author just as much as you are. As your story mingles with theirs your story changes, but so does theirs.
If you were to cross reference the life of Christians you would see that we are living volumes of God's love, connected to the greatest of stories through the pages and experiences in our own lives. We are also cross referenced to the lives of the other volumes in God's great library. Jesus' story touches every life at one time or another. All of us have been given the opportunity to connect through faith to the Savior of the world. The Bible talks of judgment for those who do not believe, and in this analogy it amounts to the saddest book burning ever. Volumes lost because they rejected the love of God.
So when we are filling our pages with the lives we've been gifted, we should write our story with more purpose. Again, I am reminded of my grandfather's life. He lived his life with one purpose. He never waivered in his love for God and his boldness to write on the pages of his life how great God is. His life was a beacon that pointed others to God in everything he did. I was able to witness this many times. Even in his autobiography he doesn't hesitate to share the light of God's love. How absolutely appropriate that he started his life in America on Thanksgiving day!
2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
When we see the other books around us we have an opportunity to show them the way to God's love and introduce them to the Greatest Story ever told. It is OUR place in this world as children of the most high. Fill those pages with the love of God and watch how God changes dusty discarded books into amazing stories of transformation and hope.
Wilhelm & Hermine Enchelmaier cir.1933.
My grandmother's favorite verses:
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
From my grandfather's book:
Philippians 3: 12-14 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
References that were rattling around in my head as I wrote:
Hebrews 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
John 2:25 "He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person."
Comments