Who's this really about anyway?

Ever have a friend that loved to talk about their-self? They'd paint the picture like they were about to tell you something so great about their uncle who fought in ... but it really ends up being a bragomony about how awesome they themselves are?

No? Lucky you!

I've been reading through Ezra, and one of my discoveries was that Ezra  was just the opposite. The book, though titled after him doesn't even introduce him until half way through (chapter 5). At that, once he is introduced, the last five chapters read not as though he is not the main character.

In first observing that I was a little thrown off, but then it hit me, "the story really is not about him. It makes sense then that he isn't introduced until chapter 5 of 10.

The bigger picture is about the Hebrew exiles returning to and rebuilding Jerusalem. Even then the biggest picture can be summed up in one word: redemption.

The book is titled after this prophet, but is far from being about him. He is rather, a supporting role. A part of the story, but not the story itself.

The story itself is that of the main character, and in dramas the main character is the hero. Period.  If there was no hero there would be no story. The supporting roles are simply there to magnify the hero.

In this case the title of the book isn't named after the main character, but is still very much about the main character.

We need to realize that out lives were never created for the purpose of promoting ourselves, but supporting and magnifying the story of redemption: the story of Jesus.

Next time you catch yourself telling a story all about how awesome you are consider this: you may be spending too much time in front of the camera and not giving any film space to the main role.