Once Upon a Time…….
I love that start to a story because you just know there’s going to be a happy ending at the end. But I love this beginning even more…..
Once upon a tree…..a Creator gave His life for His creation. From the very beginning of time…..this true story began….but there was never, and there will never be a “The End”, to this story. It took our Creator stepping up to give His life for His creation so that all of man’s mistakes from the beginning of time, could have a happy EVER AFTER!
Every one of us are writing our stories by the way we live our lives each day. No, we don’t have to have a “Once upon a tree”….story, because God lived that story once and for all for us. Some of our stories may seem ho-hum, while other stories may be adventures-of-a-lifetime every day, but we can choose how our story reads out. Maybe one of these beginnings would look good in your story:
Once upon a phone…..a devoted follower of Christ shared encouragement and love with his friend, and the friend met the Creator through him.
Once upon a greeting card…..there was someone who was hurting so much, but she realized someone else was hurting more than she was, so she shared the faithfulness of God in her card, and they both received renewed strength for their journeys of faith.
Once upon a car…..someone’s friend needed a ride to their doctor, so the driver became a chauffeur for God that showed what “mercy” looks like.
Once upon a dollar…..a kind-hearted soul, gave that dollar, and a hug, to a blind man holding a tin cup.
Once upon a rope…..someone tossed the end to a drowning man and saved their life. That day, the rope and the rope-thrower became life-savers.
Once upon an altar…..someone gave their time to pray for someone who needed a Savior.
And that brings us right back to the very beginning of the “Once upon the beginning of time” story that has no ending, because in each of those scenarios the answer came with Jesus’ words to Peter “Peter do you love me? Then, feed my lambs. Peter do you love me? Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15) And those words to Peter are the words to us. God started it all and through His Son gave His life for those who come to know Him as Lord. He asks us to be a part of His never ending story. Maybe we are the answer to someone’s prayers and, of course, we are the answer to sharing God’s story enough to give those He loves a never-ending story of their own.
Once upon a Facebook post, someone told this story with the great expectation that God’s story begins in YOU!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)