Up front I must admit I was and am still not a Rod Stewart fan. Maybe I
just expect too much from my music, but anyway, he once had a hit song called
“Every Picture Tells a Story,” way back in the past of the 70’s. Old to some, I
remember when it was new, thus establishing the baseline for dating, not the
“will you go out with me?” type. We tend to remember times and event based on
cars we owned, and anything that I don’t remember when new is old, anything I do
is not as old. It is where the memories begin, not where they end that date
us. But using Rod’s premise for a hit song, with not so new philosophy, not
only does every picture tell a story, but one picture can be worth a thousand
words. Which may explain why sometimes when looking at a picture, we stop and
gaze, as our minds take us back, or bring another time to mind. But pictures
are limited, they only tell us what is going on at that specific moment the
shutter was snapped, we have no insight as to what was going on seconds before,
and we can only speculate on what happens next. Yet we can postulate on what
has happened, using what is seen, combined with creative thinking to form a
story. Or to extend one, like in the old movie serials. “To be continued next
week....” and our minds race to imagine. “Who shot JR?” kept us on the edge of
our seats guessing, note Kristin did it. Least likely on my list. So you can
see how a photo only tells us a time, an occurrence, but a movie tells a bigger
story. Sometimes telling how it all began, and sometimes how it all ended.
Sometimes just a series of photos intertwined, where we still have only a space
in time, just a longer one. But if every picture tells a story, if Rod is
right, what do movies tell?
I love to hear how good I look after open heart surgery. I joke where were
you all telling me this before when I was single? But without seeing how sick I
was, it doesn’t make as strong as an impact. Without seeing the helicopter, the
20 days in cardiac critical care, all the tubes and pic lines, seeing me now
only gives you a glimpse into the story. You are given a picture of a moment in
time frozen, with no other views of what I went through. You don’t see the
doctors, nurses, and all the equipment moving, used to keep me alive. You don’t
see my wife and what she went through, we can only imagine. And that is where
the real story is, for somewhere between the before and after shots are where
all the action was. If you were to see a movie it would all become clearer, you
would have a continuous moment in time to see and feel. You become more of the
event, you see and feel things that before were not seen, and suddenly my words
when telling the story take on a new meaning, it is more personal. Time takes
on a new meaning, and all the stories that one photo tells become a series. The
whole story falls together, with a beginning, the end is not yet written. It is
like when Doug told of going to Israel. We were interested, then he showed us
pictures of Israel. But when we saw him in the pictures in Israel, it became
personal. It is like sitting on a bike in the showroom, and wondering how it
rides. BRRMM-BRMM! It takes action, not a still photo to be real. Without the
action, we are only left to wonder.
A life in Christ should be more a movie than a photo. It shouldn’t be a
certain time that has come and gone, it is not a sound byte in time. It has a
beginning, and and will have an eternal end, but the in between, where we spend
all our time, is where the action is. We need to see Good Friday before we can
celebrate Easter. We need to see the cross with Jesus on it before we can
relate to what he endured. Single moments cannot do enough, it takes action,
with him in it to sustain us. Remember when will not get us by, we need a
constant, living, loving God with no end to us or his love for us. Seeing a
manger at Christmas time doesn’t tell about the immaculate conception, or the
journey of a young married couple. We need to see the movie version of Jesus,
not the Hollywood aberration, but get to know him, and ask the sprit to reveal
all the mysteries of him. To make us part of the scenes, to make him real in
our lives. He is not a cross around our necks on a chain, he is the power that
broke the chains of sin. He is alive, we need to know him in action, not just a
verse, or a song. Not just a Sunday event, but a daily living entity, with a
personality. He is the person of God incarnate, not a philosophy to argue. He
rose from the dead so we can too. Imagine a photo of that, I rather see the
movie. For God is a God of love, of action, not a single event. And he wishes
to be part of all our events. Yet to many he just remains a picture that tells
a story. A statue on a dashboard, the car moving, but Jesus frozen in
time.
Reading the Bible we know of what has passed, and we also are told of what
is to come. And we are to be part of it, not standing and watching as in a
photo, but taking part in the action, like in a movie. Our testimonies bear
many words, not just a sound byte of God. Load your life with an endless supply
of film, movie film, video for the new guys, and fill it today with Jesus. Find
yourself in the script God has written for you, not just a walk in part, but a
part with lines and a character to portray. And the star is Jesus, and he is in
all parts of your life, living and alive, moving with you. Not just a moment in
time, frozen for posterity, but an eternal moment. A never ending moment, where
all the action is, and is seen. And where you are part of it. Some may be
satisfied just sitting on the new bike in the showroom, wondering what it will
do. I rather be riding, and seeing what it will do. One a moment, one an
action. One moment may tell a story, when Jesus is in your life he becomes the
story. A movie. And we are not just limited to what the camera sees, we have
access to heaven, where it all will be revealed. Jesus, he may be old to some,
just a memory to others, but he is alive and moving to me. And the stories
behind the picture are always more interesting than picture itself. My God is
alive and moving, is yours? Is he a single event, or a living thing? Take your
finger off the pause button, and begin to live. LIGHTS! CAMERA! JESUS! Where
the action is....it is called life.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com