My Favorite Book
I have really been working to really really study my Bible this year- it has been a year of me asking myself questions and wondering if I could study on my own to find the truth. It has caused me to really really delve into the scriptures. Most often I have found myself doing this early in the morning- a fantastic way to begin my day not just with my prayer time but with a serious contemplation of some of the things I wonder about. I, like many people, have several different Bibles- my all the time Bible is my very favorite-it is 30 years old and it was a gift from my mom. It is so so worn and so about 2 years ago I had it recovered, just so I could still use it without it falling apart with each opening. On the outside it is now so beautiful, clean, almost new… but inside— it is torn, worn, written on, and marked up with everything from childhood ‘hearts’ and underlined- words of wisdom fill the “extra” pages- quotes from those I have been blessed to sit at the feet of- Across the top of Books like James, Proverbs and Ruth are the words- “my favorite book” and at those different times in my life theyw ere all my favorites. There are about 95 passages that have sermons out beside them… and tons of sentences that remind me of something said in reference. Out beside- Romans 10:15 are the words MY DAD- written in 1980- I was a freshman in high school and I had read this verse that talks about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News— I remember like it was yesterday asking my dad why his feet were not pretty. I got a 10 minute sermon from him on symbolism-he knew that I knew but he wanted to “teach” me anyway. :) In Ephesians 5:4 i have a note that says- remind Drake- it was a time when I had heard Drake laughing at a kid telling an inappropriate joke and I sat with him to tell him about this scripture- he took it to heart and really changed some of his words. A simple post-it note in one scripture that has 3 points and the name of the preacher- Trae— this young man was such an influence in the lives of my boys- and several others- he passed away several years back and his influence still lives on. In the very back of the Bible- is Vic’s name- and the words- 1 year- it is dated and I wrote it in hopes to study with Vic and help him want to be a child of God- I also have the scripture that was read at church that Sunday in February that he put the Lord on in baptism. This one while beautiful does hurt most often.
The words that I have written in the pages of this Bible- are words that I cherish— words from those or about those that I care for and love— I can go to most anywhere in this dear book and have a memory like no other- I know that everything I have written is not necessarily as important today as it might have been when I first wrote it— but at that time- it must have meant alot to me— I used to tell my brothers- when I would listen to them preach- wow- you made the back pages of my Bible-:) knowing what an honor it was.
Before my mom passed away- I remember asking her to please write in her Bible- she didn’t like to do it- she hated her hand writing- I just wanted her to because I knew that someday I would cherish the Bible where she had written things important to her heart from scripture— she did this a few times and yes, it does mean so much to read those few things she made note of.
Of all these things that are written in this- My Favorite Book- I cannot forget how much the things that God decided to write in His Book are what must be most important- what an incredible thing to read those things He felt were important enough to write to each of us— to His children. So today as I was looking at the scripture I was reading- yet another great verse caught my eye- and made me think- a simple scripture- it is in Haggai chapter 1- vs. 7 ” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. — I thought about how true this is- how very real it is to just simply give thought to my ways— Such a simple verse- but important enough to have it is His Book and yes, I have a new study note in my Bible.
