Story Time

Every so often I'm asked what my favorite Bible verse is.

The answer I give usually disconcerts the questioner.

I don't have one.

To me, the Bible is about stories. It's about God working His way into the consciousness of the Jewish people, and His breakthrough - and sacrifice - in a wider world.

It's the story of the shepherd boy, David, who became a flawed king. An adulterer and a murderer, he learned that even a king has to bow to Someone.

Then there's Peter, an ex-fisherman who became the mainspring of the first Christian church in the world.

It's about a guy named Saul who changed his name to Paul, and worked tirelessly to spread the Good News. Brave man, Paul, enduring prison and a fatal trip back to Rome.

To me, these (and more!) are the jewels of Scripture.

And there are stories that make me distinctly uncomfortable. The death of Ananais and Sapphira, for instance...Peter comes across as kind of cruel, and the Holy Spirit as capricious. Ananais and Sapphira were certainly greedy deceivers, but death seemed a bit harsh.

It only serves to underscore that I don't understand everything about God.

What about you? Do you find inspiration and comfort from individual passages, or do you hold to the stories?

Or both?