Good Morning!
I recently joined a Facebook group specifically for those who read and enjoy the ESV version of the bible. I had no idea there were so many different styles and formats! Simply perusing the posts shows there are a lot of people who cherish their bibles. As do I. Right now, I am reading The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible in the NASB version. I have that same version in The MacArthur Study Bible. I also have The Reformation Study Bible in ESV as well as The Spurgeon Study Bible, also in ESV. I also have several other bibles of different versions and formats.
Yet, of all of these, my favorite is the bible I first purchase on my own back in 2007. At that time, I had no idea there was more than one version to choose from. I simply picked the one that fit neatly into my inside jacket pocket so that I might carry it with me. It turns out that it was the ESV, one that is more on the word-for-word side of translation as opposed to paraphrase. I’m not going to make a recommendation about which version is best. I don’t know enough about that topic to do that. I do know this. The ESV is a good version. Why? Because a lot of preachers I listen to that really care about what the bible says say it’s good. Bible preachers.
Why do I like my small ESV? Because I have read it so many times that I have it highlighted and all marked up with notes and cross references. I am familiar with its layout so that I might recall a verse and remember that it is probably in Jeremiah or Isaiah but on the left page, left column. I can then start flipping through pages and quickly find it. Many of you who know me well have seen this. It’s more than a book and more than just a bible. It’s become part of who I am and is one of my most prized possessions.
I can pick it up anytime and start thumbing through the pages and recall time after time that God has revealed his Truth to me. As I matured in my faith, I came to understand that I could trust what it said whether or not I understood it. So much had proven true, yet none untrue, that I could be comfortable that it was all true. This was probably most revealing to me in Creation. I actually backed into that belief. Since I was overwhelmed with the truth about everything else, I had no reason to not believe that God created the universe a mere 6,000 years ago. Once I accepted that, I soon started to notice all the inconsistencies and downright misleadings of the whole theory of evolution. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it seems like the world must be older than a few thousand years, but who am I to say that God didn’t make it when he says he did. Let’s just say that the Creationists have some pretty convincing arguments for their position as well as against evolution. It’s not just a matter of faith.
Anyway, I say all this to encourage you to read your bible. Get comfortable with it. Turn off the TV and start reading the most entertaining media there is. You won’t regret it.
Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving 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; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Thank you, Father, for your Word. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 Scott Powers