The Story that has no peer

Have you ever wondered why some people willingly spend time poring over the pages of a very ancient collection of manuscripts? A growing number of people in Europe appear to think that this collection, known as the Bible, is just old - and nothing more than that.

So why devote a lifetime to studying it, they seem to argue. After all, it's just passe, no longer valid, no longer relevant to modern man. Or....?

Let me enlighten you a bit as to why some of us hold on to an opposing view. I, among millions of others, recognize the 66 books that make up the Bible as:

1. The Story that makes the Universe make sense:

The Bible is the Story that unveils that behind the ongoing drama of human existence, there is a Purpose, or a Plan, being unfolded. Unlike naturalistic philosophy that contends that, ultimately, life is only a random process made up of more or less coherent and unsupervised events, the Bible makes sense of it all:

We are a created species in a Universe marked by undeniable traits of design. Our supreme task for as long as there is breath in us, consists in co-achieving with God His grand Purpose (more on that later) in all spheres of activity. I find such a view far more satisfying, both intellectually and emotionally. We didn't only Big Bang into existence. God willed us into being. So the Bible says.

But there's more. The Bible is also

2. The Story that makes my life make sense:

Being a teenager, I was seemingly interminably caught up in speculation, brooding 0ver whatever might be the meaning of my life. My only real interest and passion seemed to revolve around books - narratives dealing with how others had spent this unique journey through time. I used to compare my fledgling existence to their crowning achievements, vainly hoping I would miraculously turn into one of these giants one day. I didn't.

But I'm no failure. The Bible says of us humans collectively, and myself as an individual, that we are God's masterpiece (ISV, letter to Ephesians, New Testament, chapter 2, verse 10). I am here on planet Earth this very moment because I was meant to. I am here for a reason, and continually discovering what that reason may be.

One of the discoveries I have made is that I'm here not to wreak havoc upon others in a fit of religious fervour, in the guise of some misguided Crusader or hot-headed Jihad warrior. I'm here to learn to do good, to live out my life in one life-long obedience to the One who died on a cross, thus telling us there is a God who loves us.

That's why I read the Bible. It's old, but it's Author isn't dead. He's very much alive, and so is the Book to those who submit their lives to Him.