The Well Worn Bible
A while back I had a talk with a friend. She had discovered her late grandmothers bible just a few days before and was excited and overwhelmed as she spoke of the treasures she found inside. She said that in times of trouble her grandmother had always told her that a bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't.
As she read through the thin, tattered, torn, folded, highlighted, and well noted pages, she discovered the heart of a woman who was constantly seeking her Father. She also began to understand how her grandmother had not only survived but thrived through the trials in her life. As she described them to me I couldn't help but become engaged in the legacy she left.
The question marks and exclamation points through the gospels revealed the young Christian's thoughts after giving her life to her savior at 19 years of age. The tear stained pages and repeated highlighting of Jeremiah 29:11 spoke volumes about her healing through the loss of a young child and coping as her husband was overseas fighting in the war. The pages that were most thin and crumpled (John, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians) revealed her favorite passages and places of intense study. The notes in the margins of Genesis, Exodus, and Revelation revealed her desire to learn all about her Lord. Her faith was well recorded on every page.
Then there where the prayer verses she assigned to different family members at different times in their life. Some prayed so often and so intently that it was obvious to all that her tears had mixed with the ink on the pages and actually formed a hand print as she lay her hand on them. Letters from Vietnam and photos of her loved ones littered the book as though it was her most treasured lock box. Indeed it was. She shared her life, her most precious things, with Him.
All of these things started me thinking. What would my bible say about me? Will my love and passion for my savior be as obvious? Will my love for my family be as proclaimed? Will the complete expression of my heart be reflected in the pages of my well worn bible?
What about yours?
In Him,
Amy
I'd love for you to visit me at my personal blog: Amy Bayliss.com
Labels: Amy's Articles, Bible study, Christian walk
posted by lori @ 12:02 AM
8 Comments:
I love this! Awesome post! I want to get a new bible, a parallel bible but Im hesitant because I will have to start all over highlighting and everything. I might just stick with my old, very well loved, Bible.
This comment has been removed by the author.
That IS a wonderful legacy..one that I strongly desire to leave for my children and my children's children.
I'm mindful of something that Joyce Meyer says, Just because your Bible has become a "coloring book" doesn't mean that you know it or live it.
With that said, I want it to be said of my life that I DO know and live God's Word!
I'm with Denise that commented earlier. I've 'started over' in a couple of study Bibles. Even though it refreshing sometimes to start from scratch, I want my current Bible to be my staying Bible. :)
Thank you for this Amy!!
Enjoyed this post very much.
This was the topic of the sermon at my church last Sunday. It really does make you think, eh?
Yes, this is something I've often thought of. My mom's Bible is much like what you speak of. Before finding Christ, I never understood it. I would wonder, why does she keep all of those things in there? Surely there's a better place to keep them? My mom has also used hers as her 'lockbox' of sorts... then there's the family tree in the front w/ notes scrawled around and of course the pages in between the index and the maps in the rear... those pages, so well worn. My mom used to not even let me touch her Bible, it's falling apart so. Since accepting Jesus into my life, I've gone through several Bible's. I was wondering at Bible study yesterday, as I looked around at all the women's Bibles & how well worn they were... will MINE ever look like that? It's a true testament to who we are. Will I ever look like that? And I love what Kela said about Joyce Meyer saying about it being more than a coloring book. I'm doing my first Bible study right now & using a highliter as I go through. It's important to me, but I don't want the passages from the Bible study to be the only things ever touched in my Bible. I've also thought of this very topic when the beginning of every year comes around. I get the Lifeway sale ads & such & there are ALL of these Bibles on sale. You can walk into Lifeway & see all of them. Now they seem to make a Bible for every occasion. I sometimes think, enough is enough. If we as a society continue to buy new ones as gifts for people or buy the 'token' Bible that is for sale for Christmas, the New Year, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc...... will our generation's Bibles ever leave the legacy that our grandmother's were capable of.... ?
Carrie @ comfortedbyGod.blogspot.com
I love the sentiment of a well-worn Bible. I love to write in mine and make notes and references in the margins. However, I once had the priveledge of listening to a renowned Bible scholar from Dallas Theological Seminary speak about his Bible-marking habits. As an elderly man, one that had studied Scripture for decades and taught thousands of seminary students, he made it a point NOT to write in his Bible. He reasoned that anything he would write, although revealed by the Holy Spirit, might actually hinder his spiritual growth because if he later returned to that Biblical passage he would be stuck in the same points, priniciples and convictions that he had the last time he read it. Instead, by keeping his Bible free of marks & writing, he could cleanly come to passages repeatedly and receive a deeper and richer understanding each time. His knowledge was not dependent on his first revelation or conviction but upon the Holy Spirit leading him each time he sat down to study the Bible. Food for thought.
, I want it to be said of my life that I DO know and live God's Word!
Work from home India
Post a Comment
It is good to hear from you... thank you so very much for leaving a note on the table. That makes us smile!
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home