It’s been a week since Snowmaggedon2014 unexpectedly struck the Southeast. All that is left now are the stories. The snow is gone. The ice is gone. The severe cold is gone. All the cars left scattered here and there, they are all gone, too. All that remains are the stories we tell about how we survived the storm. We love to tell them. That’s how it is with stories like the ones last week left us with. Stories are for telling.

Jesus loved to tell stories. He told numerous stories in the form of parables to teach his followers about the Kingdom of God. He’d say, “The Kingdom of God is like…” and then off he’d go telling another story. God loves stories, too. It was God who told the Israelites to tell the stories of how he brought them out of Egypt and into the land he promised them. He wanted the generations that came after to know their great God. “Tell them.” He said.

How would they know if they weren’t told the stories? The generations that followed weren’t witness to the plagues that befell Egypt. They didn’t experience the first Passover. They weren’t there to see the Egyptian slave owners freely giving the Israelites gold and silver to take on their way. They never saw the waters of the Red Sea part, and they didn’t walk across the seabed on dry land only to turn and see Pharaoh’s men swallowed up by the same waters that stood back for them. They didn’t wander in the wilderness for forty years dependent on God for daily food. They didn’t circle Jericho and shout and see the walls come down. If the stories weren’t told, they wouldn’t know what a great God they served.

Everyone in the Deep South has a new snow story to tell. Some are more adventurous or treacherous than others, but we all have a story to tell. If we love Jesus, we all have that story to tell, too. What if Jesus had come and gone, and no one ever told the story? I’ll tell you what. We wouldn’t be talking about him over 2,000 years later. He would be a footnote in the annals of history. It is in the telling of the story that all who know him came to know him. Jesus made sure his disciples told the story. It was their job. Tell the story. Spread the word, to the ends of the earth, so that all may hear it. Tell the story.

I believe it’s why he tarries now. He’s waiting for the story to be told just that one more time. For that last ear to hear it.

Parents, tell your children the stories of Jesus. Friends, tell your friends the stories of Jesus. Employers, tell your employees the stories of Jesus. Tell them of his great love for them, of his sacrifice on their behalf. Then tell them how those stories influenced the stories of your life. Tell others how he saved you, redeemed you. Tell them how every day since that day has been changed because of him. Tell them your story. All who have come to faith in Jesus have a great story. Stories are meant to be told.