Jean Newell, Associate Pastor, Sun Lakes United Methodist Church
“What’s in your wallet?” Sound familiar? Most likely! However, rather than focusing on what credit card you might be carrying, I’d like to tweak the question a bit and ask, “What’s in your Bible?”
Recently, my sister gave me a Bible that belonged to my mom who passed away three years ago. The Bible is paperback and a treasure trove of goodies! Because of the note mom wrote on the inside of the cover, I discovered the Bible was a gift from her sister, my Aunt Betty, given to her 25 years ago in July, 1992. Inside, tucked between the pages of the Bible, are old newspaper clippings, a card that came with flowers from my brother and his wife sent on her 60th birthday in 1981 and a short note my sister wrote on November 16, 2005. There are also prayers on the backs of a variety of bookmarks, a letter Aunt Betty wrote March 28, 1995, and slips of paper with notes about scripture that apparently had special meaning for her.
As I turn the pages, I find she underlined parts of or entire verses, and I wonder what she was thinking or what was going on when she read a passage that caused her to mark it so she could reference it later. Some verses speak about attitude or money or about the poor and needy.
It’s interesting that over the years, I don’t ever remember seeing her use a Bible. I know she used at least two small daily devotional magazines, because years ago when I was going through a tough time, she sent me one. I opened her letter, looked at the devotional and arrogantly thought, “Humph! I don’t need a devotional; I can handle things on my own!” With hardly a glance, I tossed the little magazine in the nearest trashcan.
How wrong I was! Sadly, it took a while, but I came to realize I couldn’t handle things on my own, and I remembered her daily devotional. It wasn’t long before I purchased my first daily devotional magazine and found within its pages, as she must have done, inspiration and encouragement from God’s Holy Spirit. Likewise, you can find uplifting, inspirational bible quotes here on the internet too, which can be accessed wherever you are and whenever you may need them. I don’t know where she kept her devotional, but mine is tucked inside my Bible. So, “What’s in your Bible?”