All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,  so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – Paul

The pages of a well-crafted novel seem as if they turn themselves. I can hardly put the book down—each page is alive with excitement.

I am intrigued when I think about the fact that I only read the novel one time then it lives as a stored story on my bookshelf. Although it carried a wonderful story and perhaps taught true principles, the story was never true. It never happened.

In major contrast is my Bible.

Just the length of the story is like Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. To sort out all of the Biblical characters is like keeping track of the 132 people in Tolstoy’s book.

Then, there is the seemingly dull factor. There are pages in the books of Leviticus and Numbers that are anything but alive to the 21^st century reader.

The Bible may feel overly complex. Books like Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation appear to present more questions than answers. Written in the tradition of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, these books offer few clues to help the modern reader decipher the message received by original recipients.

Here are a few pointers I use to see the pages of God’s story come alive:

1. I don’t need to comprehend every book, chapter, or verse for God to love me. However, the more I stay with its pages the more my understanding increases.
2. There are abundant sections where pages do come alive and practically turn themselves. These portions both intrigue and inspire me. Knowing these “page-turners” await helps me trudge through the more desert books and chapters.
3. My interface with Scripture, my research, my experience, and my trust in Creator God, lead me to conclude its pages describe true historical events. The composite of these events tell the story of God’s desire for my allegiance. The pages come to life as they show me the remedy for sin, and give me the key to experience a life of peace.
4. Unlike War and Peace, each year as I begin with Matthew and end with Malachi, the holy breath in the pages transforms my likeness into a being a tad more like Jesus and draws my relationship a notch closer to God and His son.
5. The God-breathed pages come alive as they teach me and help me to teach others. God’s living pages rebuke me, correct me, and train me in righteousness, so that I will possess the tools for working with God in my daily walk on earth.

The best of novelists must produce a new fictitious story after the last big success to remain before their readers.

God, who breaks all of the norms for writing a best seller, continues decade after decade to see His book go through reprint after new reprint in multiple languages. It is a living book whose pages birth new seedlings day after day.

God’s pages are alive. The question is do I let its seeds permeate the landscape of my life?

What do you do to find life in the pages?

Stay tuned. – Gary J. Sorrells