Falling Apart
Someone once truly noted, “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”
I watched this reality in the lives of my mother and father, who both had Bibles that were regularly “opened up,” “read up,” and “marked up” in noticeably intriguing ways. Frankly, after even only a few years, each of my parent’s Bibles always looked like it had been through a battle with a set of red and blue pens and lost.
What wasn’t lost was the impact the Bible had on them.
Don’t hear me saying that marking in your Bible or demanding a certain method of reading is the point. Not at all! The point is the Bible itself. For my parents, opening, reading, and marking in it was—and still is—just their way of showing how much they love and read it; how much they desire to remember and obey it. It’s obvious Roger and Betty Stiles are keenly aware God has provided them with a “lamp” and a “light” for every moment and every mile.
I draw this from Psalm 119:105, where David describes God’s Word, specifically God’s Law, as a “lamp to my feet” and a “light to my path.” This is a beautifully practical metaphor upon which one should meditate. Let me explain.
When David connects lamp and feet, he is referring to our next steps; the situations right in front of us in the “right now” moments of life. Aren’t you thankful God’s Word shows us how to walk and what to do in the immediate things that demand a decision? You can count on God’s Word today.
The latter couplet of words, light and path, point to how God’s Word illuminates the road ahead, providing a “map,” of sorts, for our life. Though we don’t know all the specifics that will come our way, we can be confident God’s Word will correctly lay out the path for us, guiding us at every turn mile after mile. Aren’t you grateful God already knows where you’ve yet to go and has left you dependable directions? You can count on God’s Word tomorrow.
This is the central habit and core trait of the person whose life isn’t falling apart: their Bible usually is.
Though I employ that play on words with a hint of humor, the point it makes should bring us to a serious evaluation of our regular routines and processes: Is God’s Word embedded in them? Is Scripture our essential “go to” for the day, and our constant compass for the future? Are we into the Word and is the Word into us?
My prayer for you this week is this: Rely on the Bible for every moment and every mile. Read it veraciously. Ingest it deeply. Memorize it patiently. Obey it courageously. Share it widely. Walk in it confidently.
And when the binding and pages of your Bible start falling apart, take heart. Your life won’t.
Pastor Todd