The Bible on the left is my leather ESV journaling Bible. It's my fancy Bible. It has all my notes, highlights, post-its, and other memorabilia since I became a Christian 7 years ago. When I became a Christian I was rejected&disowned by friends and family and very broken inside. I had walked away from family/friends and a life of faith I had known since childhood to follow Jesus. The thought of following Jesus terrified me, literally. The first time I went to a church I was shaking I was so scared. This Bible records that 7 year journey.
Fast forward...the Bible on the right. I received this as a gift from a new friend. Nothing fancy, just a simple paperback NIV Bible with the newspaper type paper...Price on the back even says $3.99,lol. When I received it I smiled and politely said thank you thinking, "well that's nice but I have a fancy Bible at home." Thinking in my ever prideful way that it would just end up in my nightstand drawer. I didn't know why she gave me the Bible except when she handed it to me she said "dig into the word and be transformed." Ok, I thought again to myself...she knows I'm a Christian, right? I mean, I did tell her I was.
But God (my favorite phrase in the whole Bible), knew where my heart is. Knew I was putting my career first at the expense of my relationship with Him. My heart was drifting away and growing cold to spiritual matters. He knew I hadn't even cracked the cover of my fancy Bible in months.
When I brought that simple paperback Bible home I sat on my couch and literally cracked it open. With the crack of the glued spine it was like the hard clay around my heart began to break. Just enough for God's light to pierce through...like when the morning light begins to peak through the curtains.
Now, I find myself reaching for my simple paperback each morning instead of my fancy Bible. The Lord spoke ever so clearly to me saying that He wants to do a new thing. That it's time to put away my fancy Bible...not to forget where I came from but to look to the future instead of rehearsing the past when I see those notes and scribbles. He wants me to read His word with fresh eyes. He wants to revive my faith with a new work. He's healed me from the pain of my past rejection and it's time to move forward and take new ground. Like when He told the Israelites in Exodus 14:15 to move on...He's taken care of what is behind me and now it's time to go forward.
God, as always, knew what He was doing when He had me presented with a humble little paperback. I could go on and on about the lessons the Lord has taught me in just a matter of days with this simple Bible...one being fancy Bible vs. plain Bible pride (oy vey)...but I won't. For now. If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to read my rambling. I'm looking forward to the journey I will be taking with my plain little paperback.
