
I decided to make a book of pictures from my vacation this summer. The book program online allowed for a certain format and then a particular number of pages with various layouts available. I enjoyed placing digital copies of my photographs in the spaces allotted to create a collection of images that captured a mood or a feeling regarding the places I visited.
After I received the hard copy in the mail, it was fun to experience each stop on my trip through the images I had selected. Collecting approximately 100 pictures from a pool of 3000 or so proved difficult at times, but the finished product did highlight the best of what happened.
The process of putting together this book gave me the slightest glimpse into what the apostle John had to do when he put together his Gospel, the Book of John, about the life of Jesus. Near the end of his book, John wrote:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).
Like me with my vacation book, John chose those things that best captured his experiences with Jesus. While there were many stories John could have told, like with the many pictures I could have included in my book, John selected the stories that best helped us as readers know that Jesus is the Son of God.
So what stories would you include in your own book of faith to reveal to readers who Jesus is? What John’s words allow us to see is that it is best not to overwhelm people with too many stories, but to focus our attention on what episodes have the most power and meaning about the role of Jesus as our Savior. Think today about your best examples of Jesus’ impact on your life. Let those be the first ones that you share. The rest can come later.