There are a number of books I consider favorites. I have books highlighted, underlined and corners folded. Those tend to be the books I will return to and pick up yet again, and again and again.
However, there is one book that is the most dear to me. I consider it far above all others. There is no comparison to it's value or worth to me. I treasure it with all of my heart.
It is also highlighted and underlined with notes scribbled in the margins. Some would disagree with this practice of mine. Some might even be appalled at the amount to which this has occurred in this particular book.
I have found that this is how I best apply it. This book has become a journal of sorts to me. It is very personalized as it contains some of my deepest personal heart notes and challenges within it's pages.
This book of which I speak is my Bible. As I am reading, studying, listening and challenged, I do mark it up. As I then later come across my notes, the moments in time that those notes were written come forth once again.
The valleys I have been through, the mountains I have gazed from and the paths in between all serve to remind me of the constant faithfulness of my God. Each and every mark has great meaning to me.
As my heart has wrestled over some of it, tears have been shed. As new insight was given, tears have been shed. As I vividly see the very hand of God, tears have been shed. As I hear God speak, tears have been shed.
This most special book of mine does not look brand new. The gold edges are looking quite worn. It is thicker than the nice compressed version of new. It is not fancy.
It is a vivid and personal proof of God's love and faithfulness to me. It contains His very Words that are whispered and nestled deep within my soul. It is well worn and tear stained... but that is what makes it mine.
Is there something about your Bible that personalizes it for you?
When my mom went on to Heaven in 1986, the one treasure that I wanted most was her Bible. Like yours, it was very personalized. I've even found my own name written in the margins by verses that she prayed for me. Such a gift. So now I'm not only marking my Bible for me, but for my kids who will read it after I'm gone. Such a legacy of love and grace. *;)
ReplyDeleteI love, love, LOVE this! My Bible is highlighted and underlined and written all over, too... and I often think of how God's Words are written all over my every day.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there is also the story of how my cat once peed all over my Bible cover... it was one of those cloth zippered ones. Nasty! I threw away the cover, but it was months before I could open my Bible without smelling cat pee. But I just couldn't get a new Bible--mine was too marked up! That was also when I decided to rename my cat Lucifer. :)
My Bible got put in a protective cover within a week of getting it. Probably the only reason it is still relatively together.
ReplyDeleteThe back binding has been repaired with that tape with the thread in it, by me. Pages are taped that little hands grabbed. There is the page that Miss Pear wrote on (and down the side of the nice gold edges, or at least they were gold at one point), there are the pages that Baby crinkled. When we were trying to sell our old house and I needed just 10 minutes I would give Miss Pear my Bible and she would happily flip the pages. Now that is how I get Baby to sit through the sermon.
I have written all over it - notes from my personal study, notes from sermons and Bible studies, notes from prayer. It is underlined lots too, in multiple colors. In some places it is so written in there is a little symbol by the verse and then another symbol at the top or bottom of the page where the note is.
While I do have my eye on a particular study Bible in the translation our church uses, I plan to use this one until it falls apart completely from use and love, or until there is no were else to write!
And I keep a Bible in my kitchen. It is not written in as much, but its job is to take a beating while I work in the kitchen, so I don't anticipate it looking stellar 10 years from now either! :-)
So you are not hard on your Bible, and it is not a bad practice. The women I know who know their Bibles the best and love their Lord the most tend to have either stellar memories or phenomenal filing systems for their notes, or Bibles like ours.
I'm a total underliner and writer in my bible. I also write quotes from church messages and scriptures that are life changing into all the blank pages in the front and back covers. I write down, when I remember to, specific answers to specific prayers in the blank pages too.
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