I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Bibles. I love Bibles; all kinds of Bibles – big ones, little ones, leather ones, paperback ones, old ones, new ones, - all different versions and translations – you name it, I’d like to have it, I love Bibles. I probably own over fifty Bibles; I’ve never actually counted but I’m sure it would be close to that.
Truth be told, I love books in general. I am what the dictionary calls a bibliophile. In Greek, “biblio” means book and “philo” means love, so a bibliophile is a book-lover; someone one who loves to read, admire and collect books. Bibliophilia is not to be confused with bibliomania, which is an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting of books to the point where one’s social relations or health is endangered. I remember loving books even when I was a child. I loved it in elementary school when you got that handout from the Scholastic Book Club and you got to order a few new books. They were cheap paperback versions of books, often abridged classics, but I can still remember the difficulty I had selecting which titles to order and the smell of the ink on the pages when the books finally arrived in the classroom in a big box and the teacher handed them out. I Googled this memory and discovered times have certainly changed. Now you place your Scholastic Book Club orders online through your teacher’s web portal: that makes me feel really old and outdated. But I am digressing badly here – back to Bibles.
My story is I bought another Bible this week. I have decided I want a smaller Bible to use when I am preaching, but it can’t be too small because then I can’t see the print to read it. I needed just the right one. I checked with Barnes & Noble and Amazon, to no avail. Then I went to a couple of Christian bookstore websites (CBD and Cokesbury). Finally on Thursday I made a quick run down to my local Lifeway store (Northpoint Mall) and there, right inside the door to the store was a display with the exact Bible I wanted. Best of all, it was on sale for only ten bucks! It is a Zondervan Compact Thinline Bible. The photo above is the Bible. It has a “simulated leather” cover with an embossed cross on the front. It’s really nice. It is a “trim, go-anywhere pocket Bible that contains the entire Old and New Testaments plus many features usually found only in full-size Bibles” according to the advert for the Bible (read more here).
At any rate, I’m excited to try it out on Sunday. Meanwhile, I don’t understand the obsession I have with Bibles. Maybe it’s because I love Scripture so much. Or maybe it’s because I’m hoping someday I will find the perfect Bible; one where I hear God speaking to me every time I crack it open. I don’t know, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I’ve got my eye on a nice, used, leather-bound Living Bible I saw at Goodwill today… maybe next week!
Truth be told, I love books in general. I am what the dictionary calls a bibliophile. In Greek, “biblio” means book and “philo” means love, so a bibliophile is a book-lover; someone one who loves to read, admire and collect books. Bibliophilia is not to be confused with bibliomania, which is an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting of books to the point where one’s social relations or health is endangered. I remember loving books even when I was a child. I loved it in elementary school when you got that handout from the Scholastic Book Club and you got to order a few new books. They were cheap paperback versions of books, often abridged classics, but I can still remember the difficulty I had selecting which titles to order and the smell of the ink on the pages when the books finally arrived in the classroom in a big box and the teacher handed them out. I Googled this memory and discovered times have certainly changed. Now you place your Scholastic Book Club orders online through your teacher’s web portal: that makes me feel really old and outdated. But I am digressing badly here – back to Bibles.
My story is I bought another Bible this week. I have decided I want a smaller Bible to use when I am preaching, but it can’t be too small because then I can’t see the print to read it. I needed just the right one. I checked with Barnes & Noble and Amazon, to no avail. Then I went to a couple of Christian bookstore websites (CBD and Cokesbury). Finally on Thursday I made a quick run down to my local Lifeway store (Northpoint Mall) and there, right inside the door to the store was a display with the exact Bible I wanted. Best of all, it was on sale for only ten bucks! It is a Zondervan Compact Thinline Bible. The photo above is the Bible. It has a “simulated leather” cover with an embossed cross on the front. It’s really nice. It is a “trim, go-anywhere pocket Bible that contains the entire Old and New Testaments plus many features usually found only in full-size Bibles” according to the advert for the Bible (read more here).
At any rate, I’m excited to try it out on Sunday. Meanwhile, I don’t understand the obsession I have with Bibles. Maybe it’s because I love Scripture so much. Or maybe it’s because I’m hoping someday I will find the perfect Bible; one where I hear God speaking to me every time I crack it open. I don’t know, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I’ve got my eye on a nice, used, leather-bound Living Bible I saw at Goodwill today… maybe next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment