There's always more

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Scripture

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.
(John 21:25 NASB)

 

Observation

John closes his gospel with the story of the interaction between Jesus and Peter as Jesus reinstates him and gives him an assignment, which is to care for the flock. At the end of that scene we understand that it is John who is eavesdropping and so he is able to share this intimate moment between Jesus and Peter. Soon after this event John brings his gospel to a close, but not really. He reminds us that this is not all that there is not know about Jesus Christ -- it is simply the tip of the iceberg. If he were to write about everything there simply would not be time nor space.

 

Application

I was wondering what would happen if I were to write the story of my relationship with my husband. We've been married 29 years now and it's been a great journey together. I love him more today than I ever have and so, to choose how to tell that story, I would have to simply pick the highlights to tell -- for there is simply too much that we have experienced together to ever really do justice to our story. The same had become true for the disciples. Within those three years of traveling together God had moved on a daily basis and recounting every miracle and every detail of lives that were touched and transformed by Jesus Christ would have been too much. We are left with four gospel accounts from four different perspectives that give us a little glimpse of what Jesus did while he was here on this earth.

Sadly, there are times when we try to put Jesus into a box. We limit ourselves to a literal understanding of him which will not allow our imaginations to run beyond the printed page. What a sad commentary because the Jesus of the gospels wants to jump from the pages of history and intersect with our lives on a daily basis. The story of Jesus' involvement in our world continues to this very day as he has continued to touch and transform lives throughout the centuries -- all the way to mine.

The exciting thing about Jesus is that he is alive and works and moves in our world today, therefore the story continues to be written. There's always more! And we are invited into that more. So, as the story of Jesus Christ continues in our world today, I wonder what Jesus may be asking us to do -- what characters we are to play within the plot which he is creating and designing. We have been created for this purpose, to be a part of His story -- of history -- the question is whether we are allowing him to use us as the characters he's created us to be. Sadly, some of us are missing out on the adventure altogether because we want to write our own story. He's the Master who can take each one of our simple little lives and weave it into his masterpiece -- if only we'll let him. No matter how much we may have already messed up our story, he can take it and redeem it and give it a great ending, for there is always more to come. Hang in there -- let's allow Jesus to take the pen and write our stories -- and trust in him.

 

Prayer

Lord, thanks for writing the story and please help me have the patience to give you time to continue the writing. Amen.