Six Shorts:
A Devotional Study of Literary Devices in the Bible
Alisa Hope Wagner
Marked Writers Publishing
Six Shorts: A Devotional Study of Literary Devices in the Bible
Copyright @ 2024 by Alisa Hope Wagner
All rights reserved
Marked Writers Publishing
www.alisahopewagner.com
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Scriptures taken from various translations of the Bible found at www.biblegateway.com.
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Cover illustrations by Albert Morales
Author Photo by Lori Stead at https://www.wetsilver.com/
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ISBN: 978-1-963190-06-9
Six Shorts:
A Devotional Study of Literary Devices in the Bible
Alisa Hope Wagner
Dedication
Daniel – the man of my dreams
Isaac Jeremiah – my prophet
Levi Daniel – my shepherd
Karis Ruth – my graceful companion
Editing Team – Emerald Barnes, Patricia Coughlin, Cynthia Faulkner, Faith Newton, Holly Smith and Daniel Wagner
Illustrator – Albert Morales
Holy Spirit – my Writing Partner
Acknowledgments
This book has been years in the making. I write my short stories sporadically when an idea hits me. I’ve written others that are found in some of my non-fiction books to emphasize the spiritual theme I’m discussing. However, these six I have been gathering for the right moment to publish. I knew God had a special plan for them, and I feel the value of what He wants to communicate to His people whom He loves so much.
I want to express my gratitude to my husband who supports my writing fiercely. Without him, I could not be the writer I am today. Also, I love that my kids—Isaac, Levi and Kiki—motivate me because I want to make them proud of me as I am proud of them.
Next, I want to give a huge thank you to my illustrator, Albert Morales, who breathes life into my stories with his spectacular illustrations.
Also, I am grateful to my editing team: Emerald Barnes, Patricia Coughlin, Faith Newton, Holly Smith and Daniel Wagner. Thank you for finding those pesky typos and for offering me encouragement and advice.
Finally, I want to thank my writing partner, the Holy Spirit. You are always by my side while I write, helping me wrestle with words. I couldn’t have the victory without You.
Table of Contents
Introduction.. 1
Fiction: A tool of Jesus.. 7
The Hat Shoppe.. 15
The One Tree.. 34
A Writer’s Toll.. 62
One Way Up.. 75
9-Holes.. 92
Heavenly Street Walk.. 139
Conclusion.. 165
Introduction
“Most of us muddle along in predictable patterns. What imagination helps us see is that any life, no matter how ordinary, is extraordinary with God. He shattered ordinariness with the Incarnation. We just haven’t gotten the message yet.” – Cheryl Forbes, Imagination: Embracing a Theology of Wonder
We were created in God’s image as free-thinking individuals endowed with the miracle of the imagination (Genesis 1:27). The imagination was gifted to us in the Garden of Eden. Let’s imagine for a moment that the Garden of Eden is an actual place, but it is also symbolic of another place. Symbolism is a literary device that gives characters, objects, actions, places or other elements another, more profound meaning, or it can represent an abstract concept (aka a spiritual truth). The Garden of Eden symbolized the Presence of God or Heaven. Adam and Eve not only lived in the Garden of Eden, but they also dwelled within the Heavenly Presence of God. Garden of Eden = God’s Presence.
God planted two trees in the Garden of Eden—along with everything else Adam and Eve would need to live peaceful, satisfying and perfect lives (Genesis 2:9). One of the trees was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree is an actual tree, but it also has a greater symbolic meaning. It represents our ability to have free will, and imagination would be impossible without it. God gives us the ability to choose to obey or disobey because He wants imaginative children not unthinking robots.
We have the free will to use our imagination for good or evil. However, this gift of free will comes at a price. We can taste it and experience evil and feel shame. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, they felt no shame (Genesis 2:17 & Genesis 2:25). They allowed the words of the serpent (symbolic of Satan) to cause their imaginations to wonder about the tree and then acted on their inclinations (Genesis 3:1-7). Therefore, humankind fell from God’s best, and we lost our perfect position with Him because He can have nothing to do with sin (Romans 3:23 & James 1:13). Adam and Eve had to leave God’s Presence, but God had a plan to bring His Presence back to His children through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah.
God is love (1 John 4:16). He created us, so we could enjoy His love. He gives us the choice to love Him back, and true love is found in both words and deeds, not simply in feelings (though feeling loved by God is wonderful). We love God by trying our best to use our imaginative free will to create beauty for His glory. But since God knew we would fall short of His holy standard, He also put another tree in the Garden: The Tree of Life (Romans 3:23, Genesis 2:9 & Genesis 3:22, 24). This tree also had a profound symbolic meaning as well. It represents Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, Who washes away all our sin (John 11:25 & Hebrews 10:10). Jesus’s Finished Work on the Cross cleanses our acts of free will that are done outside of God’s will and perfects all our acts of free will that are done inside of God’s will (1 John 1:7 & Titus 2:14).
This is why God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). Jesus said He is Lord over the Sabbath because that is when He did His work on the Cross—while God rested, redeeming all good six days that God created but that we corrupted with our free will to sin (Mark 2:27-28). The Sabbath (a day of rest) was created as an actual day, but the literary device of symbolism gives this day a greater meaning. Jesus promised us He would give us the Holy Spirit after His death and resurrection (John 14:26). Therefore, we are now living in a time of Sabbath, not simply a day. We exist in an era where we can rest from our constant striving to be perfect. Jesus swapped our sin for His righteousness, and now we have Heaven (God’s Presence) within us! The gift of free will mandated two trees to satisfy God’s desire for perfection and love. The Tree of Knowledge gives us free will to choose. The Tree of Life redeems and perfects our free will choices.
The Bible is brimming with literary devices. Symbolism is just one example. The Holy Spirit opens the living aspect of the Bible to us, making it no longer just a book of historical stories (Hebrews 4:12). He guides us as we read the Bible, giving us insights and applying spiritual truths to our current situation. But how much more understanding would we gain if we could recognize literary devices? Literary devices are used to enhance writing, creating a more profound impact on the readers. Today, we are bombarded with images. We don’t need literary devices to form those images in our mind and produce those feelings in our heart. We have decorations in our homes. We watch television and movies. We can see all kinds of landscapes around the world. And the world is filled with endless photos, memes and reels on social media.
Our acquaintance with literary devices is diminishing, and it is affecting our Bible reading, producing confusion and ignorance and causing division in the Church. The writers of the Bible used literary devices because their main form of entertainment and sharing information was by using their words with no visual aids. Their words alone had to convey spiritual awareness to readers and listeners by producing images, emotions and understanding. Thus, literary devices were imperative in ancient times when the Bible was written.
My heart in writing this book is to use my education and experience to help us gain a better understanding of literary devices, so that when we read the Bible, we can look deeper into what the Holy Spirit was communicating through Biblical writers, and what He is communicating to us currently. The Bible is abounding with God’s promises that are potentially ours. I say potentially because we can’t claim what we don’t know. I want our Bible reading time to fill our minds, hearts, bodies and wills with God’s love, truth, victory, freedom, joy, healing and every good thing found in the pages of His Word.
Each of my six short stories will have a devotional study and reflection questions based on the story and five literary devices pulled from the short story along with the corresponding literary devices pulled from the Bible. Therefore, we will learn thirty devices in all. My genre of choice is speculative (fantasy, dystopian, science-fiction, supernatural, etc.), so we can expect speculative aspects throughout each story. All the stories save one is spiritual in nature. I wrote the flash fiction story (around one thousand words) from a writer’s perspective. It is not necessarily about faith, but it does focus on a moral issue we all face but that we writers face specifically. I pray that my stories not only entertain us, but that they teach, move and grow us. I want us to be able to take what we learn and allow the literary devices found in the Bible to reveal themselves, offering us greater clarity, insight, wisdom and anticipation—thus, giving us more victory in our daily lives. I use the word “us” because I am learning along with you, yearning for the ears that will hear and discern the voice of God.
“Then Jesus said, ’Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear’” (Mark 4:9 NIV).
Fiction: A tool of Jesus
Jesus penned forty-six parables. Parables are short fiction stories that help moral truths infiltrate the audience’s minds and hearts. Although He didn’t write them down personally, these parables left such an impact on His followers that they are included in all four Gospel accounts.
par·a·ble
Noun
a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson
Jesus knew that fiction would resonate with His listeners and, eventually, His readers. Like a magic portal, a story sweeps us into another life and world and allows us to imagine and feel circumstances outside of ourselves. We walk in another’s shoes and see life from a different vantage point. And before we know it, a truth has been planted so deep within our spirits that we can’t shake it. We have been entertained, informed and maybe even changed.
What makes a parable resonate is what makes all stories resonate. Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) and, thus, He is the Master Writer. He knew what would make His stories connect with His audience: Conflict creates tension that leads to change.
With 21 verses, the Parable of the Prodigal Son is the longest of them all. Jesus was surrounded by an audience of tax collectors and Pharisees who all knew the Law well. The sinners knew they fell short, so they stopped trying, and the Pharisees manhandled the Law to fit their own deficiencies. But what of grace?
With all eyes on Him, Jesus does not offer a non-fiction bullet-list definition of grace. He tells them a story (Luke 15:11-32).
There were two sons. The younger son was not satisfied living in his father’s house.
Conflict: The son’s viewpoint differs from his father’s.
Tension: There is a rift between father and son.
Solution: The son demands his money and leaves home to indulge in wild living.
The son quickly spends all of his inheritance as a famine spreads across the land.
Conflict: The son is broke.
Tension: He must find work during an economically difficult time.
Solution: He survives by feeding pigs, an animal that, to him, is culturally unclean.
The son is still hungry and looks longingly at the pigs’ food.
Conflict: The son is starving to death.
Tension: He realizes he cannot survive on his own.
Solution: He decides to humble himself and return home.
The son goes back home to beg his father for a servant’s position in the estate.
Conflict: The son must face his father.
Tension: The rift between father and son still exists.
Solution: Surprise ending, GRACE.
The father loves his son so much that when he spies him yet in the distance, he picks up his robes, and like a child, runs passionately to him. He grabs hold of his youngest son, hugging and kissing him, and does not say a word of the money and time that he squandered. The father does not give him a position of a servant; rather, he sets him up as co-heir of the estate with his signet ring.
Climax: The father throws a party because his son who was once lost has made his way home.
But wait. Jesus’ audience doesn’t quite understand the story. The son did not get what he deserved. The Law was not met. A party has replaced punishment, and celebration has replaced recompense.
Like the audience, the older son doesn’t understand this thing called grace. He is angry and won’t join in the fun. Why should his brother who deserves to be reprimanded be acquitted so easily? Where is justice? Where is punishment? The older son has labored under the Law like a slave. He doesn’t need grace nor does he want it. He is perfect in his own eyes.
I’m sure the Pharisees listening to Jesus’ story began to pace with agitation, as the sinners in the crowd dared to grasp onto hope. The Law was too hard. They could never be good enough. Could there be another way to the Father’s house besides perfection? This thing called grace seemed too good to be true, but as Jesus ended His Parable, the truth of grace fitted itself deep within the heart of every listener to be either rejected or received.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NIV).
Grace is a gift for all who see their need for it. The younger son saw his deficiencies and became a true son. The older son saw his righteousness and became a slave. Humility releases freedom; pride holds enslavement. Grace goes to those who realize they are sinners. That is the moral of Jesus’ parable, and this fiction piece is at the heart of the entirety of God’s Word. Like the young son, we have each gone astray. We all need a Savior.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6 NIV).
How could Jesus possibly explain this thing called grace to the crowd without parables? Jesus ignited the imagination of all His listeners, painting the expression and realization of grace across every soul with His stories. Needless to say, grace could not be explained without fiction rooted in truth. Christian fiction changed history through the parables of Jesus.
And that’s what we as Christian fiction writers have been gifted and honored to create: fiction rooted in truth. Our hearts are anchored in God’s as we spin tales that offer our readers a glimpse of imperfect lives embraced by grace. No matter our genre, there is no greater story than when our protagonists cannot overcome the final obstacle on their own. The surprise ending happens when there is outside intervention that offers the solution.
How bold and awesome is a main character who sets out on a journey knowing it cannot be accomplished? Frodo from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, determined for Mordor, knew the odds were against him and that the chance of victory was slim, but he had a high calling (to save the world) and he stepped out by faith. At the edge of the fire, he had to face his own pride. An outside force of mercy bit off his finger (Gollum), and his brokenness became his solution. The ring was finally overcome, and once again grace is lodged in the hearts of the readers.
Conflict: We are separated from our Creator because of sin.
Tension: We can’t have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Solution: Jesus died on the Cross, vanquishing sin, so we could have a relationship with Him.
The Covenant of Salvation is the hope for all of us. We are drawn to the underdog story because we see ourselves in it. We cannot overcome in this life alone. We must have divine intervention. When we read Jesus’ parables, we get a sense of God’s divine purpose. He knew we would fall short (Romans 3:23). God knew we couldn’t overcome on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9), which is why He had the solution—grace through the Finished Work of Jesus on the Cross.
Grace cannot simply be explained. It must be shown in a parable, in a story, in a life. Therein lies the truth of fiction: it has the power to not only entertain and inform but to change the world. It is a tool victory, cutting away indifference and ignorance. Jesus used this tool at least forty-six times during His ministry. He knew that some of the most important universal truths could only be discovered in fiction. And as we will discover, He used literary devices to help engage His audience even more.
