The Ultimate Collection

I love books.

I have always enjoyed reading and escaping into the make-believe world of the characters portrayed in the pages of fictional books. I also love learning. Books can bring opportunities to me that might not otherwise be realized. Although I may never have the ability to travel around the entire world, I can get a glimpse of these different places by picking up a book and exploring it; and in some small way this practice expands my world and life.

As a student and then as a teacher I began collecting books. In fact, whenever it was time for me to move, I would hear groans from those helping me as they saw the number of books I had amassed. When I retired from teaching, I looked for the people and places who would appreciate my treasures before simply passing them along. I wanted the new owner to appreciate the value of what they were receiving.

Although I have given away hundreds of books, I still have a small library in my care. Books are one of those things I cannot live without. Some of my most prized are the very first books I owned when I learned to read as a young child. Today, my favorite books are those that help me to know and better understand the mysteries of God. I love to read about His Kingdom and I love those books that help me to discover His heart.

Like any library, my books are organized by subject and author. The floor to ceiling bookcases house reference books, books on prayer, books on Biblical healing, books that teach us how to do various ministries. There are biographical and autobiographical books as well as Christian fiction on my shelves and there are books on wellness and nutrition, too. You can find books specific to women or to men; books on the topics of children and family and marriage. I have books that teach me about living a Christian lifestyle. Naturally, there are theology books and books on the topic of worship. I still have some of my favorite and most useful books from my college and graduate school and seminary classes, as well as old-fashioned tools like dictionaries and a thesaurus sitting right next to my Biblical Greek materials. Then come the multitude of Bible handbooks and dictionaries and books that help us understand the manners and customs of Biblical times and places, commentaries,etc. The list of topics is endless but wouldn't be complete without my Bibles. There are two full shelves devoted to numerous translations that help me dig deeper into the Word of God; some for the ease or reading in modern language and others to teach me with greater accuracy what the Word says in its original text.

I take pride in knowing I have a rather wonderful collection of books at my disposal, yet this morning as I was spending time with God reading His Word, a light bulb came on in my mind. It is not the number of books that I own that qualifies my collection as a library, it is the content. If I lost all of them, but still had one copy of the Bible, I would still have a complete library at my fingertips!

The Bible is indeed a collection of 66 different books, written by more than forty human authors, each inspired by God's Spirit to record His story and Words over the span of some fifteen centuries. This one-volume "divine library" is a book of wonderful variety. As Ray Stedman states, "Its beautiful love stories reflect the tenderest and most delicate of human passion. Its stories of political intrigue and maneuvering rival anything we might read in today's headlines." There are stories containing violence and gore. Its poetry is the height of artistic and emotional expression. It includes intense stories of human drama and there are even strange passages filled with allegories and cryptic imagery that can be very challenging to digest and comprehend. There is one subject that dominates and permeates each one of these 66 books: Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, the collection of books that make up the Bible is really a book about Jesus the Christ. In symbol,in story, in prophecy, in history and in poetry, in every aspect and dimension the focus is upon God's Son. Every possible category of books found in a traditional library exists in one volume, within the pages of Holy Scripture.

Sunday, I watched a science fiction movie. I don't normally spend much time reading or watching movies in this genre, so I didn't know if I would appreciate or enjoy "The Book of Eli." I didn't really know too much about the movie and was concerned about it being a fictional story that might carry too much weight. God's Word is too important and too scared to be manipulated or taken out of context. I was afraid that is what Hollywood had done. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. On the contrary, the story demonstrated just how powerful and extraordinarily valuable God's Word is. I found myself weeping at the end. I won't give more details because I don't want to spoil the movie, but I have found myself thinking about it now for several days.

As much as I love books and reading, and as much as I love God's Word, I know that I don't spend as much time reading it as I should or could. I don't spend enough time with God learning to understand His Word. I don't spend enough time reading His stories or contemplating the ultimate wisdom passages. I don't spend enough time memorizing scripture or confessing His Word aloud. The words contained in the pages of this particular Book are literally LIFE and FOOD and MEDICINE to me, yet I find myself spending more time reading the words of human authors instead of the words God is speaking to me.

I am thankful that God helped me to realize that I have an opportunity to sit down with Him, THE AUTHOR of all creation and life to get private tutoring. When I invite Him to join me as I read His story, I have the opportunity of a lifetime to have Him teach me directly, about the things I long to understand the most. If I ask Him, He will jump at the chance to help me understand the mysteries of His heart and Kingdom.

I thank Him for this gentle reminder of the value of what I possess in this one divine volume. Before I pull another book off the shelf or take a trip to the public library to find a fresh, new read, I intend to take a fresh look at the best-selling Book of all time; the Holy Bible. I hope you will, too.

I pray that He will help me digest and comprehend it so well, that if need be, I can carry the entire text in my mind's eye as He writes its contents on my heart.

Lets see, it begins "1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light."...