The Rest of the Story by Craig Ruhl

During my everyday devotion time, I like to include writing out Bible verses in longhand (cursive for you youngsters) in a journal I keep for that purpose. This has been a habit for about 11 years now. As I was writing the other day, it occurred to me that these verses I am recording are but single threads to a grand tapestry God has given to us—the Bible. By themselves, they share history, theology, lessons, hope, and encouragement—the list is endless. When these verses, taken as a whole, 66 individual books’ worth, we have a library of education, instruction, hope, and encouragement.

There seems to be a danger in concentrating on just a verse or two. It becomes too easy to take portions of the Bible out of context. This is especially important for laypersons like me, who do not have the training or knowledge to understand the nuances and subtleties of the translated words in the verses. I have marveled at how some people can call up a Bible verse from memory to interject into a conversation at will. Many times, I have seen two people banter back and forth quoting chapter and verse, seeming to outdo the other. Is this what God meant for us to do with His Word? I don’t think so.

Back to my devotion time and writing out those verses. Many of the verses I choose come from daily devotions I receive in my email. In this digital world, it is easy to click on the preceding verse and/or the following one. There is also an option to view the entire chapter and even the book in the Bible. Choosing these options allows me to put a specific verse in proper perspective. Many online Bible resources, such as Bible Gateway, include a feature where you can compare Bible versions and gain a greater understanding of the verse. Add a good Study Bible in your preferred translation, and you now have even greater access to the entire story. Not all of us should or can get a seminary education, but we can make great inroads in our understanding of God’s instruction manual. I still like the feel and sense of paper study materials, but the electronic ones make it easy to carry the library with us on cell phones and tablets. Either medium will serve well.

Many readers will not know of or remember Paul Harvey. He was a famous American radio broadcaster, a recipient of the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, and well known for his distinctive style and diction. His broadcasts were of the news and comment genre. Many of my favorite segments Harvey did were from his The Rest of the Story series. In these, he would expand on and add little-known facts to an existing story. He dove deeper into the saga and brought out the often surprising and edifying details not generally known before. I liked that style of a broadcast program. There is a similar feeling to digging into the Bible and discovering those little nuggets that complete the story. They add context, texture, and meaning to the overall message. For instance, comparing passages in the New Testament with prophecies contained in the Old Testament. You can’t always get that knowledge from concentrating on a single verse. After each broadcast, Paul Harvey would sign off by saying, “And now you know... the rest of the story.” Be sure that as you study the Bible, you dig deep enough to learn the rest of the biblical story for yourself.

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8 NIV)