I knew a guy back in my 20’s that was probably the most consummate story teller I have ever known. Now some who know me say I can weave a pretty good tale, but I cannot hold a candle to my old friend Henry.
I mean, Henry told stories about things like rivers that flowed backwards, a match that re-lit in his pocket and set his pants on fire and before the days of guided missiles a story about an arrow that chases a deer around in circles. But my favorite was one he told about his hound dog, you see Henry had a dog that could talk.
I can never tell it like Henry, but the story goes that when he got this dog as a pup, his dad started to teach the dog to speak. Just a few words at first but by the time the dog was a year old he could talk as well as any three-year-old human. And over the years the story grew. The last time we talked back in the 90’s the dog was now reading. Henry told stories like no one else I have ever known.
Before I became a follower of Jesus, I thought that the whole Bible was a lot like Henry’s yarns, just a bunch of made up tales that were almost as hard to believe as any he ever told. In fact, the Bible has a story about a talking donkey. Sound familiar? It took me literally years to see the difference between man made tales and ones inspired by God. Today I would like to share how I came to make the distinction and why I now not only trust the Word of God, I believe every word written within its covers.
I have told that when I first opened the Bible I could not read it, I needed to listen to it as I did my daily walks on an MP3 player. I decided I would listen from the beginning all the way to the end. That is what I did. Over a period of 6 months I walked about 45 minutes a day and listened to the Bible. Some of the Old Testament stories I heard were unbelievable to me. Starting with Adam, Eve, and the talking snake, to Noah and an ark filled with every animal floating on a sea that covered the entire earth. Moses parting the Red Sea and Balaam talking to a donkey. So many more, all seemed to confirm my concept of this book, Henry could have written it!
But something also came through that I had not expected. I started to notice that through every page of this book was a powerful underlying thread. It was vague at first but by the time I got to the New Testament it was undeniable. So many different books but each added another part to an immense puzzle which I eventually saw as God’s plan of salvation, which culminated with Jesus Christ. This certainly did not convince me that everything I was reading was true but the pure power of it did start to make me think.
I decided to read other sources and one of the source books I read was on a subject I knew little about, the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book was called, “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography” by John Joseph Collins. There was a ton of fascinating info in the book but the stand out thing was it confirmed most of the books of the Old Testament have been around exactly as we see them today for at least two millenniums or more. That stopped me in my tracks a bit. And for sure cut into my idea that the Bible was like the tales Henry told. Unlike his stories which grew and changed every time they were told these had been rock solid for ages. There was certainly something different about this book called the Bible.
Two more things happened that convinced me. One, there was not one archeological piece of evidence that refuted the Bible and two was Jesus himself. The first does not need much explanation. I did research and everywhere I turned the archeological evidence was yearly confirming things people thought were fantasy for years. Nations like the Hittites that were believed to be a figment of Bible writer’s imaginations became a reality, as evidence was found of their existence. An inscription found that referred to King David. There was no doubt, the guy who slew a giant, actually lived! Number two is a matter of faith. As I began to believe Jesus was who He said He was my belief in all other things Biblical grew.
You see, Jesus constantly referred to stories I thought to be tales. Yet to him they were history. How could the Son of God tell tales like Henry did? That wasn’t working for me. Jesus belief in the Word became my belief. And in fact, as the years went by and I now read this book over and over I was sure as the Apostle Paul tells us, “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) The Bible is not a set of tales, it is the Word of God!
I lost contact with Henry over the years, the construction world is like that. I went west, and I heard he stayed around the Kentucky area. Some have told me he still has that dog who talks. I chuckle thinking about that, but I no longer think of the Bible when I think of my old friend. We humans can weave some tales, but only God can weave a plan that is so miraculous we will never know its end until we hear it from Him in the New Jerusalem. That is one story time I am not going to miss!
Blessings John
1/31/18
