Telling Your Precious Story and Listening to Others Will Revitalize Your Faith Five Day Bible Plan With Steve MorrisSample

Day Three: Jesus and stories

'Jesus seemed to have a glorious curiosity about people’s lives and was very prepared to be distracted and tarry a while and listen. Oh, how might we be more effective if we too were prepared to be distracted from all the important tasks we set ourselves. Jesus, of course, is even late for a death at one point – which was, to say the least, inconvenient for poor Lazarus (who was lying dead) and his desperate sisters.’ (Steve Morris, Our Precious Lives [Milton Keynes: Authentic Media, 2020] p.53).

I tend to plan my day. I always write a list of what I need to do and diligently go through it and tick things off when they are done. It gives me a sense of security I suppose. It isn’t the kind of thing Jesus did. He was delayed often and spent time telling stories and listening to the stories of others. In the gospel reading, he stops in the midst of an emergency and attends to the story of a woman who was ill and had been humiliated. It would have been easy to pass by, but no. It is interesting because he insists on hearing her whole story and not any airbrushed affair. We can trust God with our stories and we can learn from Jesus to take time to listen. 

Prayer: 

Lord help us to have a curiosity about other people’s stories, to listen and to value them and to learn from them. Make us humble, humble enough to stay silent when we need to.