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Jul 26, 2022 08:00am

Four Imperatives To A Godly Life Story

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I know that this is a spiritual forum and that the following comment may not be very spiritual, but here it goes anyway.

I love oldies rock and roll music. Specifically music of the 1960s and early 1970s. I loved it as a teenager despite the consternation of my very spiritual mother. And I still love it today. Certainly my focus now is predominately “Christian” music, but that has not taken away my enjoyment of the music of my youth.

And just recently, I heard a song from that era that I have heard hundreds of times. But this time, one particular line from that song just exploded into my consciousness. Over the following days, I played that song over and over dozens of times. And that line has dominated my thoughts both spiritually and otherwise.

That line was, “If anyone should ever write my life story, for whatever reason there might be”.

I mean, what if someone really were to write my life story?

THE IMPORTANCE OF GODLY LIFE STORIES

Would my life story be one that I could be proud of or otherwise? Would its most noteworthy moments be good or bad? Would a biographer see me as I see myself? Would the fact that I have been here have made a difference?

Clearly, life stories are important.

The Bible is full of life stories. Much of the wisdom and teaching that it provides comes precisely out of those life stories. We can take what we learn from them and apply them to our own lives. We can learn from both the failures and the successes.

It has always been interesting to me why the Spirit of God directed the authors of Scripture to tell the particular stories that they did. Certainly those particular stories do not tell the entire stories of those people. But they do tell us what God needs us to know.

But just as certainly, the stories that God wants told did not end with the last pen stroke of the Bible.

God’s story is still in motion. God is still alive and active in our world today. There are stories playing out every day that may not seem as awe-inspiring and powerful as those in the Bible but are nevertheless just as important.

And you and I are still active participants in God’s story.

But we each face a choice of whether to align our participation in that story with the desires that God has for us or not.

So just how do we align our participation in God’s story with what God desires for us? How can we assure that our individual life stories intertwine harmoniously with God’s story?

THE IMPERATIVES OF GODLY LIFE STORIES

In my experience, there are four imperatives to living a godly life story:

1. Jesus

There is no aligning with God’s story without Jesus. There is no harmonious relationship with God without Jesus. In fact, there is no relationship at all. The only access to God comes through a relationship with Jesus. And that relationship is only activated by our faith in Jesus as our Savior by his death on the cross.

Without Jesus, our life story on earth will never be all it could be. And without Him, our life story afterwards will be hell– literally.

2. The Bible

Much of what we need to know in order to align with God’s story is available to us simply by seeking the leadership available through the Bible. As mentioned before, it gives us the life stories of person after person to teach and guide us. It makes available to us the personal mentorship of people physically spent time with and learned directly from Jesus as He walked the earth.

And above all else, it gives us the words and examples of Jesus himself. Think about that for a moment. We have the opportunity to learn from the only absolutely perfect leader and teacher who ever has or ever will exist. Indeed, that is a benefit that is beyond priceless to our life story!

3. Prayer

Perhaps you noticed that I started the earlier paragraph by saying that “much of what we need to know” is available through the Bible. And now that I have pointed that out, maybe you are critical of that statement. Maybe you believe that everything we need to know is available through the Bible. And you may be right.

But for me, I have a need to communicate directly with God and seek His answers and leadership personally through prayer. I need to ask Him what His thoughts and His desires are in certain circumstances. Sometimes I just need to hear it directly from Him. And I have that ability. But it requires the two critical prayer elements of asking and listening. Two critical elements that have a profound impact on our life story.

4. The Holy Spirit

If you are not a church person, perhaps the mention of the Holy Spirit sounds a bit bizarre to you. Even if you are a church person, it may be uncomfortable for you. But Jesus left no doubt that it would be the leadership of the Holy Spirit that would most greatly impact our day-to-day life story.

It is this Spirit of God that guides us through it all. It is the most marvelous gift available to us, yet it is often misunderstood, unrecognized, and underutilized.

Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? Have you ever stopped to consider that “gut feeling” just might have been the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Is there really any other credible explanation for what we call a gut feeling, instinct, intuition, and conscience?

If you have accepted Jesus by faith, you already have the Holy Spirit in your being. You just have to learn to pay attention to His leadership. He is ready, willing, and able to give you a life story beyond anything that you can ever imagine. He can even use the lyrics of a rock and roll song to inspire you!

So back to the question of what my life story would be if anyone should ever write it.

Well, I hope it would point out that I was a sinner saved by grace and encourage someone toward Jesus. I hope that it would be the story of a life guided by the Bible and lived prayerfully. I hope that there would be evidence of being a Spirit led person.

And I pray that, like David, my life story would say that I had “served God’s purpose in his own generation” despite the failures along the way.

I pray that can be your life story too!