How worn is my Bible?

I’ve heard it said a Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to a person who is not.

That statement makes me ask the question, “how used is my Bible?” If my Bible is truly used, what do I have to show for it? Since becoming a dedicated servant of Jehovah, I have read my Bible cover to cover many times. Each time, I pick up a new tidbit that I did not know before and each time I gain a deeper understanding of certain passages. Also, each time I read a passage, depending on what I am going through it has new expanded meaning for me. I have learned the truth of this passage:

For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

When I review the words in the Bible, I see it with new eyes and realize I will never really be able to stop reading and meditating on the word of God and I will never cease to be amazed by the depth and breadth of this letter he inspired it’s writers to pen, his personal message and history lesson to us which spans all time. History that gives us examples of how things turned out for those who did good, and how things turned out for those who ignored his standards and did bad. We therefore know what to cling to and what to avoid in our speech and actions.

I’ve learned the principles are timeless, the words may not say, ‘hey, don’t watch that violent movie’ but it does say God hates violence. So, if he hates violence and we want to please him, we should think long and hard about the types of entertainment we choose for ourselves. God tells us how to have good, loving relationships with our family, how to be a friend, he even tells us what kind of employees we should be. If we read and study his word we can be successful in every aspect of our lives.

Right now the world is messed up and there are many who do not care about God’s standards. We live in a world of people who put themselves above anything and everyone else. I find that believing in something bigger than myself helps me to be a better, more loving and compassionate person. I wish all people could experience what I have. Learning about God and his standards and exercising faith in him has been life changing. I was able to remove many bad, self-destructive habits from my life and I have true lasting happiness. No matter what I am going through, I have Jehovah on my side and the more worn my Bible becomes, the happier I am. I have learned the truth of the scripture that says:

Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you.

James 4:8 (a)

In closing, I want to share a few of my favorite passages that give me hope, prove God’s love for me and help me deal with the daily anxieties of life:

• “On this account I say to you: Stop being anxious about your lives as to what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your bodies as to what you will wear. Does not life mean more than food and the body than clothing?  Observe intently the birds of heaven; they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?  Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?  Also, why are you anxious about clothing? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I tell you that not even Solʹo·mon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.  Now if this is how God clothes the vegetation of the field that is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe you, you with little faith?  So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to wear?’  For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.  So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.

• “‘For I well know the thoughts that I am thinking toward you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope.  And you will call me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.’  “‘You will seek me and find me, for you will search for me with all your heart.  And I will let you find me,’ declares Jehovah.”

• And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.  Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does not brag, does not get puffed up,  does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury.  It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.

• Two sparrows sell for a coin of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.