(a 3 minute read) My apologies if what I write comes across as, I know and you do not know, or as I am telling you what you need to do. If you can believe me, know this; I am simply sharing with you thoughts I am freshly discovering on the journey of life. Thoughts that if I do not share, I would go to my grave regrettably thinking, “Reda, why didn’t you share this with others!” So you see, I am doing it for the selfish reason of laying my head down in peace.

We all have probably seen this movie before.

• Jack, a billionaire, dies and leaves a will
• The will appoints an executor
• The will has demands on Henry his son and Kara his daughter to receive their inheritance
• Scene after scene the audience witnesses the frustration of Kara and Henry
• The audience knows how this will unfold, yet the acting is brilliant so they are hooked
• The movie ends and everyone in the audience leaves with a smile on their face and most importantly is feeling great and thinking, “life is good”

So what was the message that made everyone feel this great? You know it;

Jack was not just a mean old man that wanted to make
Kara and Henry’s lives miserable
Jack wanted for them to realize what life is really about
so that Henry and Kara would live a life
full of love,
compassion, peace and joy

The fascinating thing is, everyone reading this knows this already. The fact that we leave the movie feeling good is the proof that we desire it, crave it and yearn for it.

Many view the Bible as a manual, a guideline, a path that God has provided for people to know how they ought to live their lives. A to do list for Kara and Henry sort of!

The audience is typically thinking, “If only they knew beforehand that Jack is doing this because he loves them, and not just demanding things from them, then their attitude would be so different through this.”

But we, the audience, know the plot already!! Then the question is, “why do I still look at the Bible as a to do list?”

A to do list is just easier to handle; it just takes less work from me. But work is typically more fulfilling.

Since it is all about choices;
– The Bible is a list of what God wants from me that I need to follow
– The Bible is a love letter so that I can learn of God’s love for me

Love is giving in nature and is not demanding, so there is indeed a choice between these two listings. Till next week 🙂