It's an Epic Story....

Kids. Seriously, I learn so many lessons through my involvement with kids.  Sometimes it's something my nieces or nephews do. Other times, it's the kids in the church. August is one of the months that I teach the 4s and 5s class at church. This is my all time favorite age group to teach. They are just so much fun.

So this morning, after I taught the lesson, I gave a little teaser for next Sunday morning that went a little something like this: 

Next week, we are going to be talking about a man named Joseph. And let me tell you, it is one EPIC story! It starts out with a super awesome piece of clothing....includes some jail time....and....you'll have to come back next week to find out what else happens to this dude named Joseph!

And of course, the kiddos were super excited, and they all exclaimed that they were coming back next week to hear the epic story! 

And first I thought, I'm such a good teacher. Mission accomplished. These kids are excited about the lesson for next week! 

But then, as I thought about it, I started to really think about the excited reactions and exclamations of the kids. "I'm coming back next week! I want to hear this epic story!" 

And then it hit me...when was the last time I got excited about the epic stories in the Bible? It's been a really long time. The epicness of the Bible has become monotonous far too often. And when it's not the familiar Bible stories, it's picking apart the doctrinal issues to the point where the whole point of the doctrine gets lost. When is the last time I got excited about the epicness of the Bible?

And then, as so often happens, when you are already pondering life questions, this came up again a few hours after church, when I came across this quote: 

"Don't get so lost in deciphering that you forget to tremble." [Francis Chan , Erasing Hell pg. 87]

Read that again and think about it. It's hard when you've been in the church your whole life, been a Christian your whole life, to not let Scripture become commonplace. We need to get rekindle the fire, and get excited about the epicness of the Bible. Cause let me tell you, the Bible is the most epic of all epic stories, ever. And it's even better, because unlike other epic tales, its completely true! 

I think it's time for me to start getting excited about the epicness of the Bible, again. It's time to stop deciphering and start trembling. 

Still thankful for lessons learned from children,

AA