Devotion for the Week...
Do you write in your Bible? My in-laws both write in their Bibles - notes from sermons, underlining passages they find meaningful, that sort of thing. I can't do it! It's not that I think they're wrong for doing it, I just can't do it myself. Part of it is that I don't like writing in books in general. The biggest part, though, is that when I read something that has parts underlined or that has notes written in the margins, I can't see anything other than what is already noted. I worry that if I write in my Bible, I'll only ever see the things I already learned from that passage, but I want to keep learning new lessons.
Here's an example. This week I've been reading the book of Nehemiah and chapter 3 lists the various groups of people who were responsible for rebuilding the sections of the wall. One particular verse stood out to me: "Next were the people from Tekoa, though their leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors" (Nehemiah 3:5). I was impressed with the people of Tekoa, who were getting on with the work even though their leaders were being difficult. And then I remembered that I've already written a devotion about the leaders of Tekoa!
Nehemiah doesn't tell us why the leaders of Tekoa refused to work with the construction supervisors. The people, though, knew that the work needed to be done, so they went around their leaders and started laying bricks in the wall. They took the initiative to do the work. On a much smaller scale, it makes me think of when a child starts to recognize the work that needs to be done around the house and starts pitching in without needing to be asked.
Yes, I write in my Bible. Mostly I circle a word and write the synonym for the time period. I do write who preached on the passage and when. Sunday morning I ran across a passage that my mom had sent me during a period when my son was really struggling. What a joy to see four years later.
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