What Does Your Bible Say About You?
Late last year, a former ministry co-worker of ours died unexpectedly. We viewed the memorial service on a Saturday morning as it was live-streamed from a church in Florida. After the music, the reading of the obituary, and a few testimonials, the pastor got up to speak. He began his message in a rather unique way to us, but one that was totally expected by his congregation. On the pulpit, he placed a stack of Bibles. He shared with us that his father had encouraged him to do this at funerals of his congregants as his father had done over the years with his own. So, he explained that the Bibles were those of the deceased – her church Bible, her devotional Bible, her travel Bible, and her “recliner” Bible.
He then began to open each one and pull out some of the contents or read some of the notes she had written. What a varied lot! Photos of her husband, church bulletins, odds and ends, to-do lists, a grocery list, prayer requests, sermon notes. This showed us how she valued each of her Bibles and how frequently she used them. It gave us a picture of her spiritual walk. He then began his message using an outline she had written in the border of a page. I thought this was just so very special.
It got me thinking about what others would find in my Bibles. So, I pulled a few of my older ones down from a shelf and perused them for awhile. My heavy old black leather KJV Scofield Bible was given to me by my parents for Christmas way back in 1970 when I was a freshman in high school. The leather is cracked around the edges and the spine is no longer attached. I didn’t do much underlining in that Bible but the blank pages in the front and back are filled with handwritten outlines and quotes from various speakers and things I had read. At Bible college, before the days of backpacks, I lugged that precious book around campus on top of a stack of textbooks.
For Christmas in 1982, my husband gave me an Open KJV Bible with a maroon leather cover which has faded considerably over the years. This one has many verses underlined and notes written in the margins. A treasure I found in this copy was a handwritten list of when our children came to know the Lord and when they were baptized. I had forgotten it was in there and had looked for it in other places in recent years, such as in my diaries. I was so delighted and took a photo of the page to send to our children. Some of our church anniversary celebration folders were in the back of this Bible – 20th, 25th, 40th - sweet reminders of our ministry here.
The Daily Walk Bible is one I read through for several years back at the beginning of this century and I didn’t mark that one up at all so I could read it fresh each time. In 2005, I bought an inexpensive and lighter-of-weight KJV Thomas Nelson Bible for traveling to Israel. I underlined all of the verses in green that pertained to each area we toured. It has gone on many other trips, too – Mexico, Japan, Alaska, vacations, visiting family. I use it in my daily devotions and it brings back many memories each time I open it.
I have a few other Bibles that are pretty much empty – an old black hardcover copy that I used as a child before receiving a white zippered Bible with my name printed in gold (that one has gone missing), a Bible I use at school that a friend had given me, and a recent gift of a study Bible.
Someday, I will no longer need these Bibles and they will filter down to my children and grandchildren. As they open and read them, what will they learn about me and my love for the Word? Will they be an encouragement to them? Will they hunger even more for the Word as they peruse my copies of Scripture? Will they see that what is emphasized in them matches up somewhat to my spiritual walk here on earth? Will they see that I truly tried to follow Christ in my daily life even with my many failures?
“O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). “And I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved (Psalm 119:47). I want these verses to be true of me as I pick up my Bible each day and read it. What does your Bible say about you?
