Of What Value?
Of what value? “In 1978 a Gutenberg Bible was sold at auction in New York for $2 million – the highest price ever paid for a printed book.” So says The Timetables of History – a Horizontal Linkage of People and Events book.
This week, I went to a Wycliffe Bible Translators fundraiser banquet in my city. What a privilege to hear the testimonies of people that are so eager to get the Word of God to every nation, every tribe, every people. People that don’t even have a single copy of the Bible in their own language. Wycliffe wants to remedy that.
How many Bibles do you possess? Would you pay $2 million for any one of them?
I have a lot of questions rolling around in my head. Why do you suppose that anyone would pay $ 2 million for the Gutenberg Bible? To read and study it? Or just to “possess” it? I wonder if the new owner is a Christian? Was it an emotional draw to the original Gutenberg version of the Bible? Or was it an emotional draw to the Author of the Bible?
Now…ask yourself: Of what value is the Bible to you?
Why do you own your Bible? To possess it, or to get to know the God of the Bible ? Are the pages dog-eared from extreme use? Or is it gathering dust somewhere?
The Word of God – living and active and more powerful than a doubled-edged sword. Rightly dividing the truth and error. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Of what value? $2 million? NOT ENOUGH! Priceless!
Let’s talk about it! loavesandfishescoaching.com
Oh, excellent, excellent questions. Beautiful points. There is no greater power to which we have access on so simple a basis — the Word of God is so easily accessible to us, unlike in most of human history prior to the Gutenberg press. We can even carry it on our cell phones and Kindles and mp3 players. For people who are so blessed as to be able to “bathe” in the Word daily, we so easily don’t even “splash our faces” with it…
Comment by Christopher McCluskey
Wow!! Very profound, and definitely food for thought!!
Comment by Kris
How thought provoking! I’m going to share this with my small group tomorrow evening as we begin our next study from Kay Arthur entitled, “Lord, Teach Me to Pray”.
Comment by Jodi