Hero's and saints

As some of you may know I am currently on two Bible reading projects at the moment. To read the Street Bible and to read the whole Bible cover to cover. While reading through these I have reread many of the stories I was taught as a young child which had to a certain extent become no different to the fairy stories I heard.

The advantage of rereading them after so long and with the benefit of new experiences is that I am seeing them in a new way. As I am reading the stories I am seeing that these huge figures in the Bible such as Noah, Isaac and Jacob in the Old Testament through to people like Peter and Paul in the New Testament were in many ways far from perfect.

The stories we see in the Bible about these people are not about how great they were, how perfect they were or even how well they always served God. Because in many ways these people were highly flawed and did not always follow God's plans or even live in a way God would approve of. These stories are about God, His power and ability to work with any human despite our flawed nature. We learn time and again that there is nothing that we can do that will stop God from loving us or cause Him to abandon us.

I have no doubt that as I continue reading on through the Bible I will learn many many new things. There are new lessons in there even for someone who has read the Bible hundreds of times. All relationships are based on communication and one of the ways God has communicated with us is through this amazing book. Reading the Bible and spending time in prayer with God increases the communication between us and God and will only make our relationship stronger and more productive.

God gave us the Bible for a reason, it is His word to us and we should always remember that. Through it He gives us the messages and lessons we need to live our lives in the way that He wants us to live them. But in it He also tells us that no matter what He is always there for us. That no matter how bad we think that we are He can work with us and do amazing things through us. The Bible is the most amazing book and is personally written for you and for me.