Friday, March 4, 2011

An Old Friend

In 1977 I bought an NASB (New American Standard Bible) while in Bible school. Now in 2011, the pages are disengaging from their binding faster than I can tape them and I’ve purchased a leather cover to hide how worn the original is. But no matter how tattered it is, I have difficulty reading only from the new Bible that I purchased a few years ago.

This old Bible has red markings at certain verses. It has blue and pencil markings at others. At various places it has dates noted in the margins...dates that remind me of what the LORD was teaching me at that part of my journey.

Someone posted a Psalm today and I realized that I could write a whole chapter of my life just based on the various dates that were written in the margins of that particular place in the Bible.

I like my new Bible, it keeps my eyes from being drawn to only those verses that have been underlined or dated. But my old Bible is like an old friend…it tells the story of my life. The story of my spiritual journey.

4 comments:

  1. I know what you mean! My first Bible purchase was the NASB Open Bible in 1985. It fell apart years ago (thanks to four pairs of little hands, also!) and was thrown away. Since I was a toddler Christian when I purchased it, it too recorded the story of my growth in Christ with notes everywhere. Reading this post makes me miss "my old friend" all over again! *smile* But thanks too for the exhortation to dig into the new one and continue learning. I love God's Word!

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    1. Awww, I'm missing your 'old friend' for you! What a great story it told of your beginnings with Christ. But, those 4 pairs of little hands I know have become grown hands that are such a blessing!

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  2. My Bible is like that too. I can open it to the exact spot for the verse I want. If I look in a Bible that belongs to someone else, I'm not sure where to look. So much of it is underlined - all the verses that have meant something special to me at some time in the past.

    I bought a new Bible a while back - The Message - just to get a different perspective. But my old Bible is like a comfortable best friend.

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    1. My new bible is a 2 column one with NASB on the left and The Message on the right... :)

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