Do I Believe Those Crazy Stories?

Make yourself an ark . . . Genesis 6:14

As my father is a pastor, I grew up learning the Old Testament stories as history, as real as any other history I learned in school. It is therefore, not difficult for me to believe in a literal Noah’s ark or in the great fish that swallowed Jonah.

When I hear of the strange beliefs of other religions though, I think, How bizarre. How could anyone be so naïve to believe such fairy tales. I get a glimpse then, of how they must see my beliefs about David and Goliath. My faith, to them, must seem to be a fantasy in which no sane person would believe.

For many, the incredible tales of the Old Testament are just too much to accept. For me, as I believe in a God who made the universe and all the physical laws in it, it is not too much of a leap to think that He has occasionally moved in miraculous ways. I do not know though, if it is necessary for you to accept these stories as literal to come to faith in Christ.

I do know though, that Noah’s ark is not the craziest thing in which I believe. It is far more outlandish, to believe that the God who made the universe loves me personally and saved me from myself. That He loved me in my addiction and that He sent His own son to die so that I may be restored to an intimate, personal relationship with Him, is the more bizarre story.

If you and I talked, I would probably not spend a lot of time trying to convince you that the Old Testament stories are literal, but I would absolutely tell you of the reality of what Christ has done in my life, providing freedom from my addiction and from myself. Yes, I believe in those stories, but the story that is more significant to me, is the one where God daily delivers me from myself for a profoundly real relationship with Him.