Destroy Your Bible
You want to know something that I think is really
incredible? Well, even if you don’t want to know that bad, I’m still going to
tell you. I think it is incredible how quickly we human beings can develop a
new interest or hobby. I mean, just think about it for a moment. Sometimes all
it takes is us seeing someone else do something that looks cool or interesting
and within minutes we are on our cell phones, tablets, or computers dissecting
Google to see just how possible that “new interest” would be for us to start pursuing.
It is quite crazy how fast this cycle can launch us into a whole new world (I
still think of Aladin every time I use that phrase). A world that can be filled
with learning, practicing, going, telling, exploring, buying, selling, giving,
or trading in ways that we have never done before. It truly is amazing how
simple it is to pick up new interests in this day and age. For me however,
almost as interesting as discovering new hobbies, is the challenge of
rediscovering old ones.
I
love being reminded of something that I once enjoyed doing, but somehow lost
along the roads and paths of my life journey. Well, about a month and a half
ago I rediscovered one of my greatest passions: Reading. When I was in middle
school and even once I got into high school, I really loved to read. Whether it
was a history book or a Harry Potter book, I just enjoyed it. Eventually
however, that changed. As I finished high school and started college, I began
to hate reading. I’m guessing it had something to do with fact that most professors
thought it would be cool to assign hundreds of pages of reading for each test
(taking 5 classes that’s into the thousands). And most of them were books that
I couldn’t even understand (which just pushed the knife in deeper). In April
however, I rediscovered my love for a good read. I picked up the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and
finished that one pretty quickly. Since then I have read six more books ranging
from topics such as Christian thought to Historical Biographies. I try to spend
about two hours a day reading, and by next week I should have two more books
done. I have just kind of been on a roll lately. Or so I thought.
About
a week ago I was on the phone with a girl and I was sharing all my new book
knowledge with her. As we talked, I told her how much I have been learning
through reading. I told her how many books I had gotten through this past month
and about all the upcoming reads that I had planned for this month. I’m not
going to lie, at this point I felt pretty cool, and honestly, I was trying to
impress her just a tiny bit. So when I shared all of this new knowledge with
her, I was expecting her to say something like, “wow, that is cool you must be
getting smarter”. But again, I have to be honest, that didn’t happen. Not even
close. In fact, this chick shot me down so fast that I barely had any hang-time.
As soon as I told her about my reading, she said, “Oh cool…how much have you
been reading your Bible?” It was basically game over at this point, because
while I hadn’t been neglecting my devotions this past month, my Bible reading
still wasn’t priority. And my Bible reading has to be my priority…period. Or
should I say, our Bible reading has
to be our priority…period?
As
I was growing up, my dad and I had some awesome times and we made thousands of
memories. As soon as he would come home from work, we would go outside and play
ball until it got dark. Whether it was baseball in the backyard, basketball in
the driveway, or football in the street, we were always playing something and
always making memories. Whether it was a broken finger, a sprained ankle, or a
busted up knee, we were always making memories. Both good and bad. Both fun and
upsetting. Making memories by playing ball is just what we did. But it’s kind
of interesting that of all the memories that I have of my dad, there is one
memory that has left an impression much deeper than any homerun, shot,
touchdown or injury. The greatest memory that I have of my dad, is his Bible.
He had a black, leather-bound Bible that was about an inch thick, and had his
name printed on the front in gold lettering. It was a good-looking Bible, and
the best part…it was trashed. The back spine of the bible was absolutely torn
apart. The pages were practically falling out of it. He was constantly applying
new layers of black electric tape to hold it together. That Bible was basically
destroyed! That Bible was a hot mess! That Bible was tore up from the floor up!
But that Bible was incredible. Why? Because the guy read it so much that it
fell apart. Because he carried it so much that it was more than tattered.
Because he studied it so much that it was basically destroyed. God’s word was
obviously my dad’s priority.
When
I got off the phone last week (after bragging about my good reading habits) I
immediately went over to my desk, picked up my nice, shiny Bible and just kind
of looked at it. In my minds’ eye I could just see my dad’s old Bible sitting
on his desk. As I looked back and forth between the mental picture of my dad’s Bible
to the one in my hand, there was no comparison. None whatsoever. Mine looked
like a 2012 Chevy Corvette and his
looked like a 1994 Nissan Quest. And I can guarantee you that God
would take the ’94 Quest over the 2012 Corvette any day. This immediately birthed a challenge in
my heart. The thoughts just started to flood my mind, “I really need to make
God’s word my priority, I seriously need to start reading the scripture more, I
need more of the truth, I need to destroy
my Bible!”. So that is exactly what I am trying to do. That is my latest
personal challenge, to spend so much time reading my bible that I actually end
up wearing it out and destroying my Bible!
And like you probably guessed, that is my challenge to you...to us…lets destroy our Bibles!
Now,
(although I hope not) I know it might be tempting for you to just set your NIV
in the driveway and run over it with your car, but that basically defeats the
purpose. We aren’t going to destroy our Bibles just for the sake of doing it. Our
ultimate goal is a deeper relationship with the creator of the universe and His
son Jesus. But if we are seeking God the way that we should, destruction is
inevitable. But please be encouraged, because in this context, destruction brings production. If we
spend so much time in God’s word that our Bibles fall apart, it will produce a
relationship with Christ that is stronger than anything we have felt before.
We
as a family eventually did get my dad a new Bible for his birthday, and it was
just like his old one. Black leather, with the gold letters and about an inch
thick…and in a few months, it really
looked like his old one…it was destroyed!
And that is exactly the kind of bible that I want to have. That is the kind
of Bible that we should all have. One that is destroyed!
Now
that I have talked a lot about reading God’s word, this is the spot that I
would typically include scripture, but this post is different. See, this is
where our challenge begins; this is where the destruction of our Bibles really
starts. The first assignment: Psalm 119. Even if you have already read this
Psalm, take 15 minutes, open your bible and start your destruction there. This
is an incredible Psalm on the importance of learning God’s word! So lets go…lets destroy our Bibles!!
Peace
Love
God Bless
Oh
and one more thing, I’m sure some of you, like myself, use electronic Bibles
quite a bit. Something I have been discovering lately is that when I use a
physical Bible, it helps me focus, it forces me to really get alone with God,
and it builds confidence because I can see the progress I’m making from chapter
to chapter. Just try it!
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