Even though Bibles in electronic form are ubiquitous now, having evolved through cassette tapes, CDs, computers, and now to phones and tablets (I’ve had Bibles on every one of these formats), millions of households all over the world still have physical copies of the Scriptures.
The following “diary” sadly reflects the current state (and likely the past state) of people’s relationship with the Word of God.
- January 1: Family made New Year’s resolution to read me daily. They began with Matthew 1.
- January 2, 3, 5, 8: They read me the first few nights of the New Year.
- January 20: No activity recently.
- February 11: Owner used me for a short time. He had been asked to substitute as Bible class teacher, and needed to look up some verses during breakfast. We went to Bible study, but I was put in the car after class before the morning sermon.
- February 14: Owner got into an argument about St. Valentine, and paged through me in his car, but couldn’t find anything about Valentine’s Day!
- March 17: Owner got into another argument about what the Bible says about Lent. He searched me in vain about “holy” days.
- April 20: Grandma was here for a visit. I was in her lap all afternoon. She spent most of her time in 1 Corinthians 13 and 15.
- April 21, 22, 23: Grandma read me every afternoon this week! It’s so nice to be used and appreciated!
- May 4: I have a few green stains on my pages because some early spring flowers were pressed in me.
- June 18: I look like a scrapbook! They have stuffed me full of clippings from the newspaper. One of the daughters got married!
- June 27: They packed me in a suitcase with clothes and other things. Vacation trip I guess.
- July 5: I’m still in the suitcase, although nearly everything else has been removed. I thought they would at least take me out on the Lord’s Day!
- July 11: Home again. Put me back in my old place. It was quite a journey, although I don’t see why they took me along. I stayed in the suitcase the whole time!
- August 10: Read by several family members over three-day period. It seems they got into an argument about modesty, lasciviousness, public swimming, etc. They read all they could find about this subject! I never learned what they concluded.
- September 29: They used me once today — it was from the Psalms. One of them is quite sick. They even had prayer!
- September 30: Right now, I’m cleaned up and my leather cover has been waxed. I’ve been placed on display in the center of the coffee table. I think their preacher is coming over.
- October 19: I now have lots of company on the coffee table. A comic book, cell phone, and nail clippers are now on top of me. I wish I were used as much as they are.
- November 11: Owner came home from worship today all upset over something the preacher had said. He snatched me up to hunt for a certain verse, but never could find it.
- November 22: The family members took turns searching me for a Bible passage about Thanksgiving Day. They found a lot about being “thankful” and “giving thanks”, but no fourth Thursday.
- December 15, 16: There was quite a family discussion about when Christ was born. Each one had different ideas! I was read at different times by several of them. They were disappointed when I didn’t mention the date of Christ’s birth.
- December 20: There was another big family “hassle” over whether a daughter should attend a holiday dance. Various family members combed through my pages, seeking to justify “their position” on the issue. The father of the family finally put his foot down and decreed that no daughter of his was going to a dance.
- December 26: The family has a new TV. The shelf space I formerly occupied was needed, so they put me inside a cabinet. I expect to get out —hopefully — around January 1st!
The amount of information that mankind possesses now is mind-boggling — and it’s increasing every day. We don’t lack information. What we lack is the desire to use that information. In the same way, we don’t need new “books” of the Bible that are purporting to give us “lost” information of the Scriptures (“lost” information doesn’t actually exist, 2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3). We don’t need dozens of new versions (although I’ll admit they can be helpful in Bible study). What we really need is a zeal to use what’s in front of us.
Kyle Campbell
