I ironed my Bible today, I thought, chuckling that this gives new meaning to “pressing into God’s Word.”
I’ve had the Bible for years, and it shows. I’ve taped the binding inside both the front and back covers. I’ve written, underlined, highlighted, and made lists in many colors.
I have other Bibles, but I use this one as a workbook during my prayer times. I mistakenly brought it to a Bible study group once, and a woman who had just received a beautiful leather-bound Bible as a gift noticed mine. With a look of horror, she said, “I could never do that.”
Pristine pages and leather binding aren’t what make a Bible valuable to me. The wrinkled, tear-stained, dog-eared pages reveal how precious it is.
And so, I ironed mine again. As I did, I was drawn to Psalm 119 and noticed I had made comments next to all ten references to the word revive. My notes were written in different inks, showing dates spanning more than two decades.
As I read each note, God refreshed my confidence in His never-ending lovingkindness. Right before my eyes was proof, in my handwriting, that God hears me and answers when I pray.
Like my well-worn Bible, we all feel messy and unglued and must be revived occasionally. Why not open your favorite Bible today and start reading? Consider jotting a note in the margin about what you hear in your heart as you read. Your notes will await you the next time you turn to that page. You will be blessed all over again to see how God spoke to you specifically.
Don’t worry about writing in your Bible. Just open it, press in, and listen. Ironing is optional.
Beatta has been writing for thirteen years without sharing her work with professionals. Then, she reached a season of life where the road in front was shorter than the one behind, so she kicked fear to the curb. Beatta is a widow, mother, grandmother, and lifelong Minnesota resident who prefers pine trees over palm trees, except in January when the wind chill is thirty below zero. She retired after a thirty-year career with a financial management company, but still gets giddy at the thought of a spreadsheet. Beatta has led Bible Studies and other church groups for over thirty-four years. As a certified Christian conciliator for nearly twenty years, she is dedicated to helping those experiencing relational conflict achieve peace. As we all know, conflict will occur where two or more are gathered.