You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)
When I served in Albania, a small boy couldn’t reach the table from his chair. I slid a thick Bible under the lad to boost him a few inches.
“How dare you use the Word of God to sit on,” a local believer said with a furrowed brow.
I replaced the Bible with a dictionary.
The encounter left me wondering which was more sacred, the paper, ink, and leather of the Bible or the child who sat on it? I recalled that the living word of God, Jesus, allowed children to sit on him.
I don’t want the Bible to become something it is not. It is not a lucky talisman and it is not the target of my adoration. It’s also not meant as a source for bookish knowledge. The Bible is a miracle that the Holy Spirit uses to carry me to Jesus—who is the complete Word of God.
The best way I know to respect Bibles, crosses, angels, and whatever else points to Jesus, is to not worship them. Instead, I will pursue saturation to my core by the person of Jesus Christ. Only there can I find life to the fullest.
Prayer: Jesus, Holy Word of God, consume me.