"The Stories Of Our Faith"

Pastor Mark A. Callister

       I remember the Bible Storybook I used to open each evening at bedtime.  The children would be ready for bed and out would come the book.  As they got older I read them many other books at bedtime as well, but the Bible Storybook was special.  It contained lots of big pictures and the stories were kind of “Readers Digest Condensed Version” stories making them easily readable in one evening.

          In that book my children learned about Adam & Eve, Jonah, Moses, David, Jesus, John The Baptist and many other persons of our faith.  They also learned about The Lions’ Den, The Ark, The Ten Commandments, The Manger, The Cross, the Empty Tomb and the place with Streets Of Pure Gold.  I tried to make sure and get to all of the stories but every once in a while I would ask, “What do you want me to read tonight?”  Without fail when that question was asked these words would come out of the mouth of my son Nathan, “Da Giant!”  Something about little boys and rocks and slings and big bad guys getting their heads chopped off appealed to Nathan more than any other story.  Now that he has grown up to be somewhat of a giant himself I can see the appeal to him.

          The stories of our faith are so very special.  They are the foundation of our faith.  Out of those stories come the truths that we must learn and apply to our lives in order to live a life of victory that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.  Take for instance the story about “Da Giant.”  As a child you learn that a boy kills a giant and cuts off his head.  As an adult you hear the words of that boy, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel…This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head…All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands.”  And you learn that God will help you fight the battles that come your way in life.  If you trust Him, He will help you come out on the winning side.

          Learn the stories of our faith, imprint them on your heart and mind, let the truths contained in them shape your life.  Start at the beginning with, “In the beginning…” 

And God will bless you for it.