The Original StorytellerSample

WORDS

BIG IDEA: Words are the basic building blocks of every story.

Ali Baba was a poor woodcutter, whose greedy older brother, Cassim, was a wealthy merchant. One day as Ali Baba was gathering wood, he witnesses a band of forty thieves approaching a cave. They stopped and spoke the words:

Open sesame.

The cave magically opened to reveal a hiding place for the thieves’ treasure. Once they deposited their loot, the thieves sealed the doors shut with another set of magic words:

Close sesame.

Intrigued, Ali Baba waited until the thieves left. Then, he snuck into the cave using the magic word. He took a single bag of gold, hoping that this treasure would give him and his wife a better life. More importantly, he hoped that its disappearance would go unnoticed by the thieves.

It wasn’t long until his older brother, Cassim, learned of the cave and the treasure. The greedy brother forced Ali Baba to reveal the secret location. Cassim immediately marched to the cave and spoke the magic words. The cave opened to allow Cassim entrance. Then, the doors closed behind him.

The greedy man began to steal as much gold as he could. In his excitement, he forgot the magic words to exit the cave. Cassim was trapped until the forty thieves returned and killed him for attempting to steal their gold.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is not the only story to demonstrate the power of words. Countless fictional wizards and witches use magic words to derive their powers. Spies and secret agents use code words to aid in their espionage. Some superheroes, like Captain Marvel, even use magic words to transform into their super selves.

Words are a key that open doors to new worlds and new opportunities. Words contain knowledge and knowledge is power.

There is a reason that the Bible says God spoke the world into being. There’s also a reason that the Jewish name for God, Yahweh, means “He who speaks.” In fact, the very name Yahweh became a sacred and unspeakable word in ancient Jewish culture. The word had power.

God used words to speak and write the world into existence. Jesus is the Word made flesh, sent to save us from our sins. God put his words on paper in the form of the Bible to provide daily instruction and insight.

Words should be important to us because words are important to God. Through- out history, God has used words to guide us and shape the way the world works.

Words represent ideas and express emotions. Words can lift people up or tear them down. Words can speak the truth or spread lies. Words can inform or persuade. Words can incite joy or sadness or anger or fear. The power to use words in these ways comes directly from God.

It’s no wonder why words are also the building blocks of story. Think of words as actual building materials and a story as the finished product. Storytellers are wordsmiths; words are our raw materials.

Writing is as simple and as complicated as placing one word after another. Navigating the infinite choices of what word to use next can be overwhelming. There never seems to be a wrong or right choice. But, each word choice can make a major impact on a story.

Being a storyteller means selecting words and assembling them in a specific order to form a narrative. Choose your words carefully.

PRAYER

God, thank You for giving us the words to communicate with You and each other. Thank You for speaking into our lives in a way that we can understand.

Help us to better understand the power of our words. Help us to always use them to Your glory and the improvement of our world. Show us the impact of the words we use and give us the insight to always use the right words for the right reasons. Amen. 

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