You may not be a reader--and if this is the case, allow me to express my condolences and encourage you to believe there is still time to learn to love it--but if you are a Christian, there is one book above all others that you will love and to which you must return again and again. My life, thinking, character, vocabulary, and values have been shaped by Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, Defoe, Latham, Dickens, Homer, and Heinlein, but the book that has made and remade me more than any other, beyond any comparison, is the Holy Bible.
I never understood how a person’s primary reading and study Bible could be twenty years old and still look almost new. I have some old Bibles, and some of them I still use in various ways. But my everyday Bibles wear out fairly quickly. They go with me all the time. Maybe I am careless, and yes, if I purchased more expensive Bibles, they might last a little longer. But it’s not as though I am buying cheap Bibles or purposefully abusing them. They simply get worn out. They are supposed to. They spend every day in my hands, pocket, or bag. I have Bibles that are in practically new condition. They are the ones that rarely come off the shelf and are never read, only consulted.
I have a pair of dress shoes that I have owned for twenty years. I wear them every Sunday, and only on Sundays unless I officiate a wedding or funeral during the week. I would never dream of putting them on otherwise. They are stiff, uncomfortable, and after wearing them a while, my back begins to hurt. They are very good shoes, depending on your definition of good. They’ve lasted more than twenty years, and I will probably still be wearing them twenty years from now unless I wear out first. Kirstie may even be able to bury me in them! (If so, I’m taking them off as soon as the resurrection occurs.) Can you guess how many pairs of everyday shoes I have worn out in the last twenty years? I rarely replace my everyday shoes until they have holes in them and the soles are completely worn through. And if I had to choose between my worn out daily shoes and my dress shoes, I am wearing the everyday shoes with holes in the soles every time.
This is not to shame you if you have taken better care of your everyday Bible than I have, but it is to suggest that an everyday Bible is meant to be worn out: worn out from use, from reading, study, prayer, and wrestling with the text. I don’t purposefully abuse my everyday Bibles, but I also do not try to maintain their original, pristine condition. I don’t want my daily Bible to be stiff, with pages still stuck together and the gold edges unmarred. My daily Bibles are usually dog-eared, coffee-stained, and somewhat floppy. The pages are smudged with pen, highlighter, and oil from my hands. The binding is now supple, eventually a little too loose. I want my daily Bible to be good enough quality--preferably sewn, not glued--that it won’t fall apart in the first year, but not so expensive that I am afraid of wearing it out or letting it develop signs of use and abuse.
Brothers and sisters, enjoy wearing out your daily Bible. It should be a constant companion and comfort and fit you like a good pair of everyday shoes. --JME
