Most of us encounter the Bible at some point in our lives, whether that is in the drawer of our hotel nightstand or lying dog-eared and underlined on Grandma’s kitchen table.

If we pause to think about it at all, we may assume that the Bible is an old and difficult book; we can’t possibly understand it or find it helpful.

Or, we may think of the Bible as “magical.” We believe that if we just open to the right page and our eyes fall upon the right lines, we will get an answer we need, or an inspiring word for the day. We may view the Bible as if it were an ancient Magic 8 Ball from God.

What Is the Bible?

The truth is that the Bible is a story. Though a number of different authors wrote it, and generations collected it over many centuries, the Bible tells one tale.

It tells us that we were created by God to be caretakers of his world and to have friendship with him. Instead, we ignored his instructions and rejected him.

This rebellion caused division and brokenness that still haunts us today. We are separated from God and from each other. We even experience inner conflict when we do things we know we should not do, or when we struggle with nagging insecurity and anxiety.

God does not want us to live in this brokenness and division. He planned to restore our relationship with him and with others.

The Bible is the epic story of humanity’s hero, sent by God, to rescue us from sin and sorrow and death. That hero is Jesus Christ, and in the end, the Bible is his story.

Try Reading the Bible

If you have never read the Bible, begin where the story begins—in the newly made world of Genesis 1-2. Read about the tragedy that took place in our world in Genesis 3.

Continue on through the Old Testament stories of how God promised to save people from sin. Read about the family of Abraham, the law given to Moses, and the kingly line of David. Trace God’s promise and his plan through all of these stories until it is finally revealed in Jesus.

You could begin reading the Bible by skipping to the “good news” or “gospel” stories told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament. Through their eyewitness accounts, God allows us to meet our hero, Jesus, and to know him.

Watch as Jesus frees people from their demons, heals the sick, and offers hope to the desperate. Look at how he takes the full weight of our rebellion and its consequences upon himself when he dies on the cross and how he breaks the power of death when he rises again.

Is the Bible Relevant to My Life Today?

This is where the story becomes our story. Like a “choose-your-own-adventure” book, the Bible forces us to pick a path. Do we accept that Jesus is who the Bible says he is? Do we turn to him to rescue us personally? Or do we dismiss the Bible as fantasy and persist in making our own way through life?

The Bible’s story and the choice it calls us to make are just as relevant today as ever, because the biblical story is not finished yet. We still have a place in it.

Is the Bible relevant to your life today? Yes: Its world is your world, its pain is your pain, its God is the true God, and its hero is the only true hero available to you.

Pick up the Bible, read it, and discover your part in the greatest of all adventures.