A Story

The hike this morning to get pictures of the bridge gave me time to let my mind wander. As I walked along the sidewalk in the park, shown below, I began to think about my thoughts.

If I were to take what I was thinking about and write it down it would be called a story. It may be one longer story or maybe a series of short stories, but they are stories. As I walked on I began to think about those stories that were my thoughts. I began to think about the things I think about and that is when something clicked in my mind. I realized that it is not what the story is saying, but what the story is revealing that is important. If you take a story and lay it next to the word of God, what do you learn about yourself? For example take one of your stories and place it against Galatians 5:19 – 24. Does your comparison reveal works of the flesh or fruit of the Spirit?

I am convinced that those thoughts that could be written out as stories reveal what your heart is like. James is very clear about us looking into God’s word as a mirror to see what we are like. You might seriously consider testing your stories against the word and see if you need to do some cleaning up.

First, we are to examine ourselves against the word to see what we are like. Do our stories contain sin that we need to deal with that may very well be seen in our behavior? When the doctor examines us and gives us instructions we need to obey. The same is true here.

Second, in the beginning we were created perfect in the image of God. We were holy and righteous but disobedience changed all of that. The word shows us that we need to be restored to our original state by receiving the gift of life; we need to be born again.

Third, the word reveals that we need to be transformed. The new creature in Christ that was created when we were born again needs to grow; to be transformed into the image of Christ. As we go through this process those stories should begin to change. God tells us to be holy as he is holy. That applies to those stories that seem to play at will in our minds sometimes. How do yours stack up against the word of God and what are you doing about it?