One of the things that get me excited the most is getting a brand NEW Bible! I know that we live in the age of technology, and many people enjoy their electronic Bibles, but I LOVE the feel of the pages of God's Word and the sound of the pages turning. What I love about getting a brand new Bible is that it does not have all of the highlights and the notes in the margins that indicate that I have read a particular passage before; it allows me to read a passage as though I am reading it for the first time. So, I am currently waiting for my brand new Bible to arrive in the mail, and if you have never heard of this one, it's a must-have! It's the Thompson Chain Study Bible. You can look it up and see what it has, but it is my absolute favorite study Bible because it has over 100 000 references related to various topics in the Bible.
Whenever I am perusing thru the pages of scripture, it takes me back to when I first discovered that the Bible has ALL the answers. I was just eleven years old, and I was being bullied at school. Every day someone was threatening to beat me up after school. One day while I was feeling discouraged by the bullying, I decided to pick up the oversized coffee table Bible my brother had sent my mom; he was away in the army. When I opened it up, I noticed a section with various topics, like sadness, loneliness, enemies, and joy; I remember sitting for hours thumbing through the pages of that Bible, thinking of various situations and topics that my eleven-year-old mind could come up with, and nothing I thought of was not in the pages of that Bible. That's when I fell in love with the Word! But at the time, I didn't even know or fully understand the Word's power. I didn't fully comprehend that the scriptures were love letters from God's heart to mine. I didn't know that God's voice was spoken from his mouth to my ears. I didn't know that the scriptures were alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword penetrating to dividing soul, spirit, joint, and marrow (Hebrews 4:12). I was too young to fully comprehend that All scriptures are God-breathed profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16). I didn't know that the Word was a person, not a book's pages. But, I learned at the age of eleven about the Word of God that when I did what it said, there was a strength and a fearlessness that formed in me. So, as I was dealing with the bullies in my school, I was doing what the scripture said: praying for them and asking God to bless them (Matthew 5:43-45). Even though the bullying didn't stop, whenever there was something that gave me strength in knowing that my bullies were treating me poorly, I was asking God to bless them with good things; and so; that was the beginning of me discovering that whenever I had a problem, I could go to the Bible and find out how I should deal with it. As an eleven-year-old, the Bible became the authority for how I dealt with the situations in my life.
As I conclude this blog, I want to ask you, when did you enter into your relationship with the Word of God? In what form do you enjoy reading scripture? Electronic, or do you enjoy turning the pages in your Bible? What is one of your favorite books of the Bible? One of my favorites is Colossians, and I am currently reading Job.
What does your Bible look like? There is a quote whose author is unknown that says, "A person who carries a Bible that is falling apart isn't falling apart." I love that, don't you? I've put my overused Bibles on my shelf and use them as reference Bibles. Did I tell you I am excited about getting my new Bible? Yep, I know I did, and I believe that what lies within its pages is a fresh Word, just for me.
Take some time today to reorient yourself with the pages of scripture as though you are experiencing it for the first time and receive your fresh Word.
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