Thursday, September 25, 2014

Finding A New Bible....

When I was a teenager, I saved my money and bought a good quality Bible.... for $37.50, which was the discounted price my church offered for ordering this particular Bible. That was a huge sum to me at the time (I still don't take such an amount for granted! :)  I bought an Oxford KJV  Bible with a cover made of Genuine East Indian Calf leather and pages that were made of India paper. I used that Bible through a one year Bible Institute  with very intensive Bible study and then four years of Bible college, and in life, teaching, studying and more.... and I loved it. It was a high quality Bible and the more I used it, the more I treasured it. I memorized from it and could even picture in my mind where the verse was on the page in my Bible.... and what color of ink I had used to underline it. :)  My Bible became pretty marked up as I highlighted, underlined, made notes and just really used it.  This Bible held up well to Bible drills where we would quickly search for a particular verse or passage.... and as it aged, it just "fit" my hand better and better. As I said, I treasured it.

 Eventually, that Bible started looking a bit tattered... and very used, but still I continued to use it... and this Bible got a LOT of use - every day... and sometimes many times every day. A page or two developed a tear... and the binding started to break... and a missionary from Bangladesh took that Bible and carefully fixed it using some special flexible book glue. I was shocked at how nice it was again after he fixed it.... I couldn't even find the tear in the page. Of course, I decided to buy some of that glue- I had to special order it as it was a special library glue and it wasn't cheap... it worked great though, and I continued to fix my Bible when it needed it... the missionary had shown me how to use a toothpick to apply the glue in small areas... and use wax paper between pages as it dried. Though I fixed the pages, I also continued using that Bible... searching and studying... in Sunday School, church, at home.. and more.

Some pages started to come out... and the page size reduced as the pages wore away... no, they weren't tearing.... they just wore down from so much use.
 I tried to fix pages... and did sometimes... but the more I used it, the more it wore away... especially areas that saw a lot of use.

Finally, the glue went bad... it stunk so much and I had to throw it out, but by then, it was getting harder and harder to fix the Bible - it was wearing out.



When using it, I had to be careful not to lose pages, but I still loved this Bible.

Finally, I realized it was time to buy a new Bible.
I looked and looked, but couldn't find one that I liked.  I mean, they were the "Bible", but they felt odd and were not what I wanted. I tried Christian bookstores... and looked at many Bibles, but I didn't like any of them. One big problem for me was that the new Bibles had pages where the print could be seen on the other side of the page... and it made it hard to read. I didn't know what to do. A lady at a small Christian bookstore tried to help me, but I rejected all of what she had. When I took my old Bible in to show her what I was looking for, she said she understood my problem.  She said I had a very nice Bible-a very expensively bound one... the India pages are thin, but opaque and they make it easier to read... they are not used much today and then only in very expensive Bibles. I had enjoyed years of use with a very nice Bible and I guess I was a bit "spoiled".  She did tell me that a more cheaply bound Bible would never have stood up to the hard use I had given it over the years. She also said they didn't make them like this anymore.

 Well, I felt very sad as I wanted "my" Bible and not a new one. It was all God's Word... and yet, I had treasured my copy of the scripture... and it was such a dear friend and so easy to use.

My husband and son gave me money for Christmas one year to buy a new Bible... I think they gave me $65.00. We looked at new Bibles and I still couldn't find what I wanted - even among the expensive ones, so I started checking on ebay for Bibles from several years ago, thinking they were better quality and hoping I might find something similar to mine.  After several weeks of daily watching, I found one... one that was very similar to my old one and we bought it... for $67.50, I think. A lot of money, but what is more important than God's Word, right?

 When it came, I looked through it and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was easy to read... the pages looked like my old Bible's pages - only in better shape.

Eventually, we realized that it was almost the SAME Bible!! It was also published by Oxford... The leather cover was black and I really liked the brown cover better, but it was a great Bible and I was excited.


 After I checked it further,  I realized that the pages were EXACTLY the same! Page 897 has the start of Ezekiel 43 in BOTH Bibles... and the words are in the same place on the page as in my old Bible.  What fun to discover this! :)

After buying this Bible, I started reading through it and used a blue highlighter that year... the next year, I used a green highlighter... and yellow fits in there too.


 The "new" Bible was not a red letter edition, but I found that I liked the all black letters as well... or maybe even better.

As I marked up my "new" Bible, I drew closer to the Lord and found that I was discovering things in a new way as I started with an unmarked Bible.
 Now, I have used my "new" Bible for a few years... not sure how many - maybe 4 or so... and it is wearing a bit - of course, it was already about 30 years old when I bought it! :)

I have been very happy with it...

Once in a while, though, I pull out my old Bible and read it... and what a joy to see again the notes showing what God was teaching me at the time.
Both Bibles are kept and used... and I found a nice Bible for sale at a library book sale... and I bought it. I have learned what a treasure old Bibles are... I don't mean for collecting purposes... I mean for using. So, I am saving the one that I bought... it is the one I plan to use when this one wears out.

We had given our children new Bibles at various times... now we look for older Bibles at book sales and garage sales and give them a better quality bound one, which should last for many years. I don't find the good older copies often, but I DO find them... so many people just don't treasure the Bible... or use it.  I found one beautiful copy at a garage sale and it was from the estate of a woman who had simply displayed it on a shelf... and it was in almost perfect condition....for $2.00. They are out there, but it will take work to find them... it is a treasure hunt. :)

By the way, I know many are now using electronic "Bibles"... and that is okay, but for me, I want a hard copy of God's Word... and I want to "hide it" in my heart. Our Bibles are meant to be used... not just to sit on a shelf and collect dust. We are so blessed to have more than one copy of God's Word in our homes.... and there are those, even in authority, who would like to take that privilege away from us...  we need to use the Bible and get to know it daily, and if the Bible is ever outlawed here as it has been in other countries, what is hidden in our hearts can never be taken away from us.

Thank you for visiting today... I hope you have a good day... and that you enjoy fellowship with God today. :)

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Counting Our Blessings

36 comments:

  1. I have a hard time with new Bibles too. I'm like you. I can picture the verses I memorize. I can picture favourite passages. My Bible is full of personal notes. I'm not going to want a new one when the time comes.

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    1. I feel your pain... but the time does come, sorry to say. I hope you can find a good one that you like when it is time. Thank you for visiting. :)

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  2. I really enjoyed reading this, thankful for a Christian blogging friend, I have the bible my sunday school class gave me when I was 16, I now 60 and still use this same one I have received other bibles, but always go to this old one , just more comfortable with it and seems I can just flip right to books and verse faster with ole faithful.

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    1. I sure understand that.... the Bible we are used to becomes the one that feels like an old friend... and makes it easy to find what we want. I am so glad to meet you, as a blogging Christian friend also. :) Thank you for visiting!

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  3. I, too, have a Bible I have used for many years. It was still in better shape than yours, but starting to lose some "most used" sections. I was able to find someone who did book binding by hand and had it rebound. I love all the old notes and underlining and knowing where on the page everything is and now I'll get many more years of use from it!

    But reading your post and knowing how I have loved and enjoyed my own Bible, made me think about a video I saw a while back. I group of believers in Asia were receiving Bibles for the first time. Many of them had only a few pages of a Bible that had been lovingly shared with others. Seeing their reactions as they held their new Bibles, some even kissing them, made such an impression on me.

    May we never take the privilege of owning God's Word for granted!

    Blessings,
    Donna

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    1. I have been very touched by people in other countries who treasured one page of the Bible also... and was convicted that in our home we have so many Bibles... We need to treasure them and not take them for granted. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting. :)

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  4. How neat that you found almost the exact one! I liked this little story with big meaning :) Thank you for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays this week! This post reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: "A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t." ~ C.H. Spurgeon

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    1. I love that quote also! I still find myself so thankful to have this "new" Bible. :) Thank you for visiting. :)

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  5. I was just talking to a friend about this very thing. My bible is coming apart, the cover is worn down, I have few rips and tears, and the binding is giving way. I have a couple other bibles, but I can't seem to part with my old one. I understand it feeling right in the hand. It's a treasure.

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    1. Oh, it is.... I am so thankful God provided another one almost identical to my first one.... I hope you can find one that works well for you. :)

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  6. It is amazing how near & dear to our hearts our Bibles become. Once they get written in & marked up, it becomes a record of our journey with God. Loved reading this!

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    1. That is so true..... I love reading what I wrote back then as He was teaching me... and it is a record of my journey with God. I am so glad you visited and commented.

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  7. Such a wonderful post! I too have had that problem. I had a Bible that I loved but it needed to be replaced, and I searched and searched for a very long time before I found one that I bought. I've used the "new" one for 15 years now and it is losing pages and corners now too, but all those notes and underlines and marks are so important to me and this Book is so close to my heart! My father taught us to NEVER write in a book, and it was so difficult for me to make that first mark in my Bible when I was first saved, but so many years later I am thankful that I did. Thank you so much for sharing this post at the HomeAcre Hop.
    Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead

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    1. Thank you.... I love writing, underlining and highlighting in my Bible... it really does help, doesn't it? :) I am so glad you visited and left this comment. :)

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  8. This is such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing your heart.

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    1. Thank you so much... I really appreciate the comment. :)

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  9. Thanks so much for linking up to Teach Me Tuesday last week. We hope to see you again there this week. Our party would not be such a growing success without you :)

    Have a great week!

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    1. Thank you for the great link up party and for visiting. :)

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  10. I have been scouring ebay for a KJV version of my beloved NKJV Bible. I paid quite a bit for it (over $100) - it has similar pages, quality binding and calfskin leather which has only gotten better feeling as the years pass. I just want it in KJV which is what we are using more now. Your Bible is lovely and I love the center column references. That would be the only thing my I would change in my Bible as the end of the verse references are very sparse.

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    1. I hope you find what you are looking for.....soon.... after I did, it seemed like that was settled and I could just get on with life - I felt so "off balance" or something while I couldn't find the "right" one. :) Having the new Bible that was like my old Bible was such a blessing. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  11. That is a great story about your Bible. My Grandfather's Bible looked like this also. He taught Sunday school for years and it was always wonderful. He used maps and really study the time in history, we all enjoyed his lessons so much. Thanks for joining Home Sweet Home!

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    1. What a wonderful memory about your grandfather's Bible... the extra use sure makes it special. I am so glad you visited. :)

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  12. I found a new leather Bible with leather carrier at a garage sale. The only page written on is the first (to and from) page. Anyone know how to neatly remove that page? Thanks bunches!

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    1. What a great find!!! I have removed one before with an exacto knife and a ruler... need to be very careful though, not cut more than one page.... there may be other ideas also, but that is all I could think of. Enjoy your new Bible. :)

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  13. http://localchurchbiblepublishers.com

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  14. Looks like that old Bible served you well. Glad the replacement satisfied you. The most used, well worn Bible I've ever seen is the one Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty) uses. Thanks so much for linking up at our party - #FaithAndWorshipChristianWeekend 10. Shared.

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    1. It really has... and I still enjoy it, but don't want to lose pages. :)

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  15. Love the tenderness in your words as you share about your Bible. I had to get a new one a few years ago for the same reason. The binding was failing and I kept losing pages--disconcerting in the middle of a teaching time!

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    1. Thank you for the sweet comment... I have to admit, my Bible is precious to me. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  16. SOmeone once said that the one whose Bible is tattered and torn, usually IS NOT...

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    1. So true... I have seen Bibles that were carelessly used and showed wear, but the ones I appreciate are the ones that have been used often for many years and though careful, they can't help but show wear.

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  17. I have used and enjoyed a number of Bibles myself throughout my Christian walk. The one I love the most has actually been rebound and some of the pages repaired. But it's hard to find people to repair them anymore.

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    1. I agree... our culture is a "throw things out and buy new" culture. There are old treasures that are worth fixing. :)

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  18. I have a bible that I used till it fell apart too. It was hard finding another one that felt as good in my hands. The older one felt like an old friend. But I got used to the new one, and now its my favorite. Thanks for sharing this post with us at the #FaithAndWorshipChristianWeekend 10

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    1. I understand the feeling of a well-used Bible being like an old friend... what a precious friend.

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