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A Very Special Book


Tattered and torn, it has seen its better days. The pages tinted with age have underscores, circles, and highlights that mark significant things, truths not wanted to be forgotten. The pages have wrinkles and water spots where tears have fallen before they could be caught, as well as coffee stains and specific markers of early morning or late-night hours spent searching, grappling, soaking up, and sometimes wrestling with truth. The outside has seen better days, too. The spine is detached from the text hanging by a thread, and the brown leather cover with gold embossed letters is gone, leaving it nameless. Frankly, it is, all in all, a mess, ready to be replaced by another. I don’t see it that way, not in the least. The detail with which it has been described pales compared to its actual value. As the beholder, I am prompted to look beyond the flaws and tiredness of the shell of such a work and see its wonder, beauty, and strength.

I love that it is tattered and torn, for the imperfections are reminders of the countless times I have needed the comfort of its reassuring words, the direction when I felt lost, and the hope that seems to shout from the pages of promise. Also, I don’t mind the pages bumpy and wrinkled from the tears, for they prompt in me the return thought not to think too proudly of myself but instead count the times I have had to be broken to be spoken to.

I love each of the stains, for they prompt me to remember that the permanence of understanding begins with searching, and searching is always the beginning of wisdom from my Father. The threads of the spine, yes, there have been too many times I, too, have been barely hanging on. Yet that one thread, holding it all intact, refuses to break, as does the love and commitment of the Savior for me. With no cover, it appears nameless, But I know its name all too well, and amazingly, it knows my name too.

It is a chronicle of life, capturing thirty years of happenings and a teller of the stories in the seasons of life. It is a revealer of a life lived, though imperfectly, still well-lived. Yes, by appearances, it has seen better days. Still, just a glance inside, a turning of the pages, a brief pause at the inscriptions, and the touch of just one wrinkled, stained page reaffirms that I, the one who loves this book, know now more than ever its value, its irreplaceability, and its beckoning to come back inside and begin the journey again for another thirty years.

The children of Israel received the message to begin again time after time through leaders and prophets God raised up to instruct and lead them to seek after Him all their lives. God places great value on the importance of clinging to His word and using it for the standard by which we live life. His longsuffering with the Children of Israel is a picture of the same patience He extends to us as He lovingly guides us to begin again and again in our pursuit of Him. Our Father, God, desires to be the one to originate, orchestrate, and culminate the happenings of our lives. 



“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” 

Deuteronomy 11:18


                                               

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