Last week I bought the most expensive Bible I have ever purchased. It is the Crossway ESV Heirloom Legacy Bible. You can get one here if you are so inclined. It retails for $275, but it was on sale. I had some money saved up for the possibility of getting it.
I don’t normally make purchases like this. There are so many cheaper options. We don’t even need physical bible’s anymore. We can read the bible in any translation we want in a matter of seconds on our smart devices. However, I am starting to wonder about the wisdom of that. I have come to realize that there is something wonderful in holding God’s word in my hands.
I had been considering buying an heirloom bible for quite a while. So, I finally bit the bullet and got it. The main reason I wanted a “heirloom” bible is so that I could gift it to my girls. It is going to be one that I will read, write in, and pass on to them. I will be getting a second bible (later on though) to be able to gift one to both of my children.
It is a beautiful bible. It is an amazing work of craftmanship. It feels great in my hands, which is a plus, and I look forward to reading it for years to come.
But, there is something that has happened as I have been reading from it over the last week. It really is something rather odd. Something I did not anticipate or even expect. I have come to value the fact of having a bible more because of this purchase. I cherish having access to the Scriptures; having the privilege of reading God’s very words to me more because of the value of the bible.
The quality of the materials has heightened my awareness of my need to see the scriptures as having far greater worth than I normally ascribe to them. (I feel bad even writing that last line. But, it’s true.) This rather ordinary decision has elevated my sense of the worth of the words that these physical materials convey to me. I did not expect that. But, it happened.
We have such a privilege in America to have access to God’s word. We have so much access that we actually take it for granted. I give thanks to God for opening my eyes to this terrible oversight. It should not have taken buying a valuable bible to see the value of the Bible. But it did.
I want to challenge you to grab your bible right now, to hold it in your hands and give God thanks for allowing you to have access to his word. Don’t take it for granted!
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