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A Bible Well Used

By: Tim Kroeker


August 11, 2008

“Do you have a Bible?” It was my first response to the tears that rolled down Anna’s cheeks as she described her health problems and the emotional pain that they brought.


“No,” she answered. But after she had thought about it a moment she recalled that when her son received his first communion the Church had given him a Gospel. Anna’s husband went immediately to rummage through the closet for the long forgotten Scriptures.


What he brought out was a small never before opened gift box. Like one of those little gifts you receive at a wedding reception complete with the candy covered almonds wrapped in sheer and tied with ribbon.


Seeing that box with the white and silver Gospel neatly packed inside I don’t know what I wanted to do more; laugh at the complete inutility of it or cry because this was all they had.


But I took it and from John 3 began to explain how she must be born again.


She was attentive to my every word and appeared ready to begin a new life in Christ. Yet I felt somewhat limited in my ability to explain to her salvation by grace through faith without some key texts in Romans or Ephesians. So I quickly slipped out to my car to fetch an old Bible that I had be
en storing under the back seat.


The contrast was so stark. The little gift Gospel, white, clean, and never used. And that old Bible, underlined, marked upon, and pages falling out from constant handling.


Using the complete Scriptures I challenged her with the words of Paul, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved... because whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”...


(continue)


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