My first Bible was the "New Adventure Bible." It was purple and shiny, literally. It had that cool holographic cover. There were colorful charts throughout, interesting facts written at the bottom of each page, and beautiful maps in the back. I carried it around a lot. I got a cloth cover for it. I carefully put those sticky tabs on the pages so I could find books easily, or, in other words, cheat during Bible drills. And it annoyed me that there was one tab that hadn't gone on perfectly straight. While it had a couple of dings on the cover and a bend corner or two, I tried to keep it in near perfect condition. although I read it, studied with it, and carried it around a lot, if anyone looked into it, there would be no clues of what it meant to me. I had a lot of "Bible Accessories" but no underlines, no highlights, no notes, no important papers tucked between the pages. That Bible still had all the truth of God's word on it's pages, but no evidence of how that Truth had impacted the reader.
I had a couple other Bibles before I got the one I have now. But I got this one a little before I graduated High School. It wasn't a student Bible, it was a "Grown Up" Bible. See, since that first one, I had become an "expert" at studying the Bible. I didn't need the colorful charts and interesting facts anymore. It was pretty though, as close to purple as I could find. The gold edges were shiny and smooth. the first page with the "This Bible is presented to" form is still blank. since I bought it for myself, filling that out would have been weird. My intellectual understanding of the Bible was my crutch by then. I got an ego boost every time my Bible teacher complimented my insight. The Truth was still written on those pages and I had ditched the "Bible Accessories" but my application of the Truth was still superficial. Obviously, I needed an attitude adjustment.
A lot of things have happened in my life in the years since I've had the Bible. Every moment of the past seven years has been jammed packed with significance. Some of the events were tragic, attacks straight from the enemy. Some of the events, sometimes the ones that hurt me the most, ended up being like invasive surgery that God performed to cut out the tumors and heal some wounds. And some of the events were pure glimpses of Heaven.
This Bible had evidence of that. The binding is coming off, the leather is flaking, the gold edges have nearly all dulled. The book of Romans is hanging y a thread with the passage on spiritual gifts so written around that I can barely make out the print.
Turn to Psalms and you'll see where I had to highlight every mention of God as the source of security and strength.
"The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You of Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalm 9:9-10
Tucked in next to Isaiah 61:3 is a newspaper clipping of my friend's obituary.
"To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
And Jeremiah 17:7-8 is underlined and circled in black.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."
God has a message, a calling, a purpose, a mission, whatever you want to call it, written on all of our hearts. And as we carry that message through our lives one of two things can happen. The inevitable wear and tear can ding our covers and bend our edges but leave core untouched. Or we can let it sink in and underline that message, highlight that truth, give flesh to the purpose. Our responsibility is not to cover ourselves up and put on "Bible Accessories." But to live the Truth, through and through. So that it is completely obvious to anyone who peers at our heart what the message is and Who is writing it. I'm not an expert at this. There are things in my life that I'm still trying to sort into what I believe God has purposed me to be, but my life is an open book.
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