Out of curiosity, have you ever counted how many Bibles you own? I just took a walk around our home, and found over two dozen Bibles and New Testaments. That doesn’t even touch my digital Bible collection, or the scores of translations accessible online.
My most recent visit to Christian Book Distributors’ website listed over 11,000 Bibles, with almost 1,500 different flavors, and publishers roll out more new Bible titles each year. There’s a Surfer’s Bible, and even one publication that combines Bible stories with illustrative Lego building block activities.
I was not even in high school when North Vietnam was releasing the last remaining American POWs, but I still recall some of the stories of their incarceration and brutal treatment. When people lose all control over their circumstances (as in a POW scenario), it is not uncommon for those who have been exposed to God in the past to turn their thoughts toward Him. Words of hope from the Bible sustained many through grueling years of harsh imprisonment.
Using coded communication methods such as tapping on the walls of their cells, POWs have encouraged one another with the bits of scripture they remembered. One POW, Howard Rutledge, described the struggle he and other prisoners made to recall Bible verses: “I never dreamed that I would spend almost seven years (five in solitary confinement) in a prison in North Vietnam or that thinking about one memorized verse could make the whole day bearable.”
After high school I had the opportunity to visit Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. We had smuggled in some Russian Bibles. I can still picture when we secretly handed some out during a state-monitored church service in Moscow, how they were received like a scarce treasure and quickly concealed. Certainly these people valued God’s Word in a way we did not.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15;16).
We read in Psalm 119:72 (NIV), “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”
As David wrote in Psalm 19:7, 8, and 10: The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
When you next open your Bible, thank God for the treasure You hold, and for His gift of the Holy Spirit to help you understand and apply it.
A good reminder, JB – thanks!