I once found myself wondering why anyone would keep a tattered bible.
Don’t get me wrong, as one who tries to maintain a bible reading habit, I have my own beloved bible that is more than a decade old. It’s just that I like well maintained things. If my bible was to significantly tear, I would most likely get it repaired or store it for use on special occasions only.
One of my great aunts has such a bible. There is nothing special about the workmanship of that particular bible. It is basically a bible you would find in any bookstore. I have been tempted on several occasions to replace it but something in me always said no.
So I dug a little deeper.
It took me a few days to figure out why that bible means so much to her. On its pages, there are notes next to passages that guide her. There are tear stains on psalms she read when she was going through difficult times in her life. There are creases and tears on pages she has read over and over, wisdom she shared with us over the years. There are names next to verses she prays over her loved ones. In short, those are the pages of her life. The words on those pages have been her solace, her protection, her hope and her joy.
Wouldn’t it be great if our bibles were the pages of our lives?
My Words of Hope 