09/27/10 THE GIFT OF GOD'S WORD
I love the word of God & I love my paper and ink, leather Bible. While I love my electronic, cell phone (wireless) and computer Bibles (wish I had always had them), I would not trade my hard copy for all of the others. It is there every day, it is the same everyday, it has structure. No batteries, no service, no public airwaves. Turn those pages, learn those truths, write those notes. Hide it in your heart.
Yes, I do most of my study with an electronic Bible, I carry a Bible on my cell phone, I usually preach and teach from my cell phone Bible and notes. But I own my printed Bible outright. I do not have to worry about outages or servers being down or batteries being low or signals being weak or units getting fried by electrical interference. Even if it gets dropped in the water, it may swell up to twice the size, but it is still readable.
Structure is good. Seeing how the New is built on the Old and being able to travel the terrain rather than teleporting between passages. Feeling the distance between Enoch and Ezekiel, Adam and Jesus. Seeing, feeling, handling the amount of truth given to each section and grasping in your hand the relationship of Law and Grace, History and Prophecy, the First and Second Coming of Christ (Gospels and Revelation). Comparing Scripture with Scripture and knowing the layout like you know your on home. It is an important dimension to getting the whole picture.
OK, it is possible to lose my printed Bible, but the chances are less with printed than electronic. However, if we hide it in our hearts, we should never lose it.
By the way, this was not posted in order to get an argument, but rather to laud some benefits of the printed word of God. Could there be young people who will not become familiar with these benefits because they think they can replace it with electronics?
Some time ago I saw the movie, THE BOOK OF ELI (with the use of a Clear Play, removing cursing and other objectionable material from the movie). Though this is obviously fictional, it did point out some interesting ideas. Strange how the world sometimes expresses greater respect for Sacred truths (the word of God for instance) than does the church. Think about how few "Christians" take a Bible to church. Think about how few read it on a daily basis. Think about how few memorize it.
