Freedom Friday: The Whole World Could Not Contain

I finished the gospel of John this week.  I didn't know what to read after that.  I just wanted to sit there as I felt the weight of this final verse:

"Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written." John 21:25 (NLT)

The whole world could not contain.....

Can you imagine?

John wrote his gospel after Matthew, Mark and Luke had written their accounts.  He included several stories the others did not.

And yet still, the whole world could not contain the accounts of all that Jesus had done.

I'm stumped, as my five year-old loves to say.

I'm stuck on that verse.

I want to go back and read the four gospels again, gently processing all the miracles Jesus performed, all the words He spoke, the encouragement He gave to the outcasts, the harsh words for the pharisees and teachers of the law, the commands He shared to take up my cross, the warnings He gave to count the cost and not enter into following Him without careful consideration, the passion He possessed for the lost and for His followers, the perseverance He demonstrated at the temptation and on the cross, all the many things that I can read and imagine and almost touch.

And yet, the whole world could not contain.

I make Him so small.  With my fear, my doubt, my worry.

My striving.

I need to choose to trust.

I need to stop worrying.

I need to follow His call to the lost and the broken.

I need to follow as He beckons me to take His hand and step out on the water.

I need to be more like Him.  

The Earth seen from Apollo 17

from Wikipedia

I invite you to stop for a minute.  Imagine the whole world, the earth, covered in books.  The books are so numerous that they are literally falling off (let's suspend gravity for a minute).  These books are overflowing with stories of all that Jesus did.

For you. For me.  For people like us.

So that we may know Him and be like Him.

So that we may know how He interacted with broken people like ourselves.

So that we could see His heart, His love, His power, His strength.

So that we could feel the declaration of our worth as He hung from the cross.

"Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written." John 21:25 (NLT)

Imagine, and give Him thanks.