We recently moved so that we would be closer to the church. We had boxes upon boxes. My library alone numbered over 50 boxes. As we moved some to storage and others to my office and still others were taken to my home office. As I was unloading boxes and putting them on shelves in my home library, I came across a rather small Bible in a zip-lock bag. When I saw it and held it in my hands, it reminded me of the day I received it.
Do you remember your first bible? My neighbors picked up my brother and I and took us to church. We were going to Berkley Baptist Church in Denver, CO, and it was here that my 5th grade Sunday School teacher gave me the Bible I was holding in my hands. To my recollection, it was my very first bible. He gave it to me after I had attended Sunday School three times in a row. I will never forget the joy I had when he presented it to me. I noticed that he had written my name in it. The bible was a small King James Version with a zipper cover and the dongle was a gold cross. I took it home showing it to my mom and dad. I was so happy to have a bible of my very own. It contained some of the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen in it. I remember two in particular, Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and Jonah in the whale.
It had one other feature that I had not seen in my dadās bible. When you got to the New Testament, some pages had words printed in red ink. I found out that these were the words Jesus spoke. I learned that of all the words in the bible, almost eight-hundred thousand, some of them were different. I set out to read my āred letterā edition bible, focusing on the words printed in red ink rather than the black. It was exciting to read the words of the one who took my place on the cross. He loved me so much that he gave His life so that I could have eternal life. I arranged my bible reading, beginning with the verses that had letters in red. In this way reading the bible did not seem as daunting a task. There were not that many verses. As a 5th grader, I enjoyed reading my bible in this fashion.
Do you remember your first Bible? Would you mind sharing your story on this page?
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The first bible I remember was given to me by my Grandmother. She had used sticky book tabs on each book of the bible and hand wrote the name. I wish I could say that I spent a lot of time reading it, instead I used it more in Sunday school class to win at find the book. Our Sunday school teacher thought it was important to know where in the bible a book was located, so he would call out a book and who ever could turn there first one some candy. Looking back, I wish we would have spent more time reading the books instead of just finding them.
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ed: I wish I’d had tabs to help me memorize where ea. book is found, easily. We had a catechism class & memorized the OT book titles, but I didn’t memorize it perfectly & still have to go to front of book, on occasion, to find a book, both OT & New during a class, sermon, or f/ my own Bible study @ home. The 1st Bible given to me that I remember was a Christmas gift from my parents @ maybe during middle school or high school. It was a Moody Bible..& not knowing about Moody Bible Institute, & w/out explanation from my parents, I thought mistakenly that they were tagging me as “moody”! I was so hurt! I didn’t want to use it, bc of that wrong assumption on my part! Which is too bad, bc @ age 5 I heard the Lord say to me, “I have plans f/ you.”
My Dad was an architect, so likely we heard the word “plans” around the dinner table. It wasn’t until yrs. later, tho, that I finally rcvd. Him, fully, as my Lord & Savior, & now really enjoy reading & studying His (The Living) Word. He has since spoken 2me.. again, sometimes w/ scripture, so, it’s an exciting relationship.. & I love it when I hear His voice..(by His holy spirit), (or His still small voice..like an unspoken nudge to do something). I am grateful f/ this Pastor’s Blog & f/ Pastor Bob, bc even tho I live in OH, I’ve been unable to find a truly good local church where I am fed the Word.. &w/ genuine worship, & found Pastor Bob’s recent archived sermon last night, & really enjoyed the depth of research & knowledge & understanding & personal relationship w/ the Lord. So this post about seeing your 1st ever Bible, again, touches me..bc it shows how much you love & treasure The Word, & did even @ a very early age.. which I love. TY! & God’s Best!… 2 everyone!
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PS. (I’d better clarify: the catechism class was in a Presbyterian church, & was f/ the Sun. school age children. It helped familiarize us w/ the Bible. & I’ve grown since..beyond the Presbyterian Church.) TY!
Bob Crowder Author
Christena, Thank you for writing this reply to the blog. I find it interesting to look where we came from and look at where we are today. I am thankful you found our site and Blog.
Bob Crowder Author
I remember when I was little, looking at my Dad and Mom’s bibles and hoping that one day I would have mine marked, colored with colored pencils, notes in the margins. I never had sticky tabs, as they were not invented yet! LOL
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