What if Mark Zuckerberg had invented Facebook 5000 years ago?
Think about the possibilities. Imagine if folks we know from the Bible had Facebook profiles. What might you see in your newsfeed?
Samson posting ANOTHER workout selfie at the gym.
Moses uploading a snapshot and writing, “And here’s what I’m having for lunch today!” (And of course, it’s still manna…)
Eve always bragging on her kids: “Oh look! Here’s Cain taking his first step!” “Abel just lost his first baby tooth!” “Here’s Cain’s first solid poop!” (As if no other babies have ever done these things before…)
King David posting that “Dance like no one’s watching…” meme…
Methuselah’s Throw Back Thursday photo of himself when he was only 400.
That guy who just got home from a trip to Cana who posted, “I don’t always get drunk at weddings, but when I do it’s because I thought it was supposed to be water.”
Snapshots of people’s lives can be fun, but they reveal so little of the big picture.
They’re entertaining, but hardly inspiring. What’s inspiring is the detail and scope of God’s relentless pursuit of our hearts. His tender mercies. Our tragic, stubborn struggle to save ourselves, and the epic moment we become so weary of our vanities that we cast down our raggedy wooden swords and run headlong into the arms of Grace and Love and Life.
There’s power in our stories. Our real stories (not the photo and video collections that Facebook calls “stories”).
Stories of redemption and transformation never get old. They never stop speaking to the wounded places in our own hearts, or cease shining a light on our own rocky footpaths on this journey called life.
Samson. David. Eve. Moses. They played starring roles in God’s ongoing story of salvation. You’re playing a role, too. And so is everyone you know.
So go ahead. Scroll through Facebook. But don’t let yourself be satisfied by what you see. Stay hungry for the real stuff, the epic stories of redemption and transformation. You’ll find them in your Bible if you take the time to look and read. You’ll find them in the lives of people you know if you make the effort to engage beyond our virtual windows.
Life’s an adventure.
Pursue the good stuff.
