Why didn’t God just write a “To-do” list for us to follow?

Why did God write all those stories about the ungrateful, disobedient Israelites? And if that’s not confusing enough, have you read in Leviticus or Numbers lately? If God wanted to redeem us, why didn’t he just give us a to-do list.  We live and move and have our being by our to-do lists. Couldn’t God have accomplished His purpose for us by simply telling us what to do and not do and how to do it?

Wouldn’t God’s to-do list make it much easier for us to choose whether we want to be a part of His church, or a child in His family?

But then, how would we discover who God is? God reveals His gospel to us as we read His word.  He made it a mystery so we would be intrigued by His word, and want to know more about Him and dig deeper.

I recently read again one of my favorite novels, The Pearl by one of my favorite authors, John Steinbeck.  I followed the adventures of Kino and Juanna through every drama they faced. I’d read the book before, but, even as I read it again, I couldn’t wait to turn the page and find out how their story unfolded. I couldn’t put the book down.  I crave the same intrigue for God’s gospel. He has revealed His grand mystery, existing before time began, to us through His word and Jesus Christ.

He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ…Ephesians 1:9.

I want my desire, my thirst, my hunger for God and His gospel to be unquenchable. So that I keep digging, keep studying, keep listening and praying. So that I’m never satisfied and my quest for His mystery never ends.

That could never happen with a to-do-list.