Psalm 90:9, “…we spend our years as a tale that is told.”
Once upon a time in a great forest lived a poor wood cutter with his two children. Times were very hard and a day came when there was no food in the cottage except for stale bread. (Gingerbread cottage) (Witch) (Pushed her in the oven) Hansel & Gretel
Once upon a time many years ago in a beautiful valley in Greece, a poor farmer had built his house. His most valued possession was a flock of sheep. They gave wool for clothing and meat for the table, and the farmer guarded them day and night.
(Young son) (Tired of only hearing the sheep) Help! Help! Wolf! Wolf!
Once upon a time many, many years ago, in the city of Hamelin, the people were having a dreadful time. Every house in town was full of rats. Large rats, small rats. Old rats, young rats – they were everywhere. They fought with the dogs and killed the cats.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
These are Fairy tales, make believe stories that came out of someone’s imagination. They are written to teach us moral values or helpful principles of life. How much better are Biographies (The history of the life and character of a particular person) and Autobiographies (The biography or memoirs of one’s life written be him or herself).
Everyone has a story, a life story, whether it is written or not.
The Bible is filled with stories about the lives of men, women, boys and girls. Stories of hatred and greed. Stories of love and affection. Stories of sacrifice and dedication. Stories of selfishness and deception. Stories of godliness and purity and stories of sin and debauchery. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Ray Stedman of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, once asked a nine-year-old boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he answered, “A returned missionary.” The boy looked ahead not to the years of graduate study, not to the years of separation from home and loved ones, not to the months and years in steaming jungles or parched deserts – but to the final state of recognition and acclaim. It’s hard to skip the preliminaries and still reach the final goal. The musician’s finger exercises, the Olympic athlete’s daily push-ups, and the Christian’s daily stint in the prayer closet cannot be bypassed.”
The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It’s scary to realize that most of the people who failed in the Scriptures, failed in the second half of their lives. Baxter wrote, “While thou are reading this, whosoever thou art, time posteth on, and thy life will be gone, “as a tale that is told.”
Maybe your life’s story will include a chapter of when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. Hopefully, many chapters after that of a life lived for Him.