So often, we are told to think of the Bible as some kind of instruction manual.

I believe that is a description that belittles the majesty of Scripture. It also belittles the difficulty most of us have when reading the Bible.

Don't get me wrong: there are commands in there.

But, an instruction manual?

Leviticus?

Daniel?

Revelation?

Frederick Buechner closes a sermon on the Good Book this way:

"Finally, I think it is possible to say that in spite of all its extraordinary variety, the Bible is held together by having a single plot.

God creates the world, the world gets lost; God seeks to restore the world to the glory for which he created it.

That means the Bible is a book about you and me, whom he also made and lost and continually seeks,

so you might say that what holds it together more than anything else is us.

You might add to that, of course, that of all the books that humanity has produced,

it is the one that more than any other - and in more sense than one - also holds us together."

Next time you open your Bible, remember the plot:

God creates the world, the world gets lost; God seeks the restore the world (all of it) to the glory for which he created it.

Sounds much more exciting, fascinating, complicated and compelling than reading an instruction manual.