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Value unrealized

Muriel Larson

For 40 years, the inconspicuous box stood with a pile of other discards awaiting disposal in a storage room at Baker University. Then the librarian invited John McGraw, a Bible collector, to look over some religious material in the discard pile. He discovered two rare and priceless Bibles in the box. One was an original copy of the first Bible printed in the US west of the Allegheny Mountains. Published in German in 1813, it had been printed on a press carried piece by piece on horseback to Somerset, Pennsylvania. The other Bible was a translation by Noah Webster, who substituted more up-to-date English for words in the King James Version that had become hard to understand. Only one edition of this Bible was printed by Webster. How could anyone have thrown away such valuable Bibles?

Unfortunately, multitudes of people in North America are similarly relegating their Bibles to neglect and dark places, while thousands around the world would give anything if they could just have a translation of the Bible in their own language.

During the 70 years of communist rule over the Soviet Union, Bibles were almost as rare as diamonds. Christians there tore pages out of one Bible so that everyone could have a small portion of God’s Word to read. Some laboriously copied portions of God’s Word by hand in order to have their own copy. God’s Word is truly more precious than diamonds, and powerful.

One day, I helped a woman get right with the Lord. Her fervour for the Lord and His Word bubbled over. As she read God’s Word, learning about His love for her, His great sacrifice and His wonderful gifts and promises, she was so thrilled she couldn’t stop reading. How long has it been since we have felt that way? Perhaps it’s time for us to get back into God’s Word ourselves.

Muriel Larson is a freelance writer from Greenville, S.C.

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Last modified November 16, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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