A Prayer of Praise for Worn Out Bibles..... By Meg Bucher

A Prayer of Praise for Worn Out Bibles
By Meg Bucher

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The fresh pages of my NIV Bible stuck together as I looked up verse after verse at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting I was attending. The rush to keep up with flipping pages and finding verses intimidated me. I was familiar with the Bible from Catholic school, but I never imagined highlighting or writing in it! Surrounding me were students with worn-in Bibles, and I longed to have what they had.

Little did I know the journey I was praying for was already underway. Twenty years later, my NIV is worn and very often hugged close to my heart. It’s highlighted and written in, marked and bent, wrinkled, cried on, laughed with, and loved. It’s covered to protect the binding from splitting apart. It’s my life in that book.

I now have what I admired in my friends all those years ago I live in this book, with this book, and by this book. Like our verse in Hebrews says, God’s word to me is “alive and active.”

I have witnessed life, and it has forever changed mine. The other half of Hebrews 4:12 says, “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Sharper. God’s Word is a weapon, and we need it! There is a very real enemy after us, who hates the sound of Scripture. It’s truth, and he doesn’t like the truth, because he’s on the losing end of it.

Judges the heart. Jesus died for us before we existed. He is the Word, and the Word knows us. Knows our hearts. Knows our tendencies, denials, and flaws. The things we don’t tell anyone else about, He knows. And the answers to all of the questions we can’t ask anyone else about are in his Word.

Father, we praise You for worn out Bibles and brand new stuck together pages! Thank You for marking each part of Your Word with such special clarity to each individual life. We confess that we pass by Your Word for human wisdom so often, and pray that You refocus our hearts to Your highlights. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.