At the risk of dating myself, I will tell you that I have always loved books.  As a young boy, I once entered a summer reading contest at our local library.  My sweet and patient mother (God rest her soul) walked me down there again and again, across the railroad tracks and over a bridge spanning the river, so that we could return one armful and pick up another.  I won the contest easily, reading well over 300 titles that summer.  [Admittedly, children’s books are neither lengthy nor challenging, unless of course, you are 7 years old and eager to go out and play.  A compulsion to read anything and everything you can get your hands on helps.]

My passion for reading and my interest in books remained strong and steady through my school years.  I loved books so much that I wrote one—a spy novel, set in Russia, published when I was 24.

When my wife and I had children, I enjoyed reading to our kids and helping them learn to read, as well.  I like to think I was at least partly responsible for turning one of our three daughters into an aficionado of the printed word.  As an adult, she would forage with me at library used book sales, and we’d occasionally rummage together through the stacks of some antiquarian retailer for finds.  Before parting, we would unpack our hoards and display our trophies to one another. Those were wonderful times that I will always fondly remember.

While I collected an exceptionally wide variety of books which for one of a myriad of reasons struck my fancy, I always kept an eye out for Bibles.  Yes, Bibles. There was something terribly poignant about them that I found nearly irresistible.  Though not given to sentimentality, I was drawn to the great beauty of the older ones and the reverent care with which they had been treated and preserved.

Many if not most of these were lushly and lyrically illustrated.   Many contained a storehouse of priceless family records, neatly memorialized on the short lines thoughtfully provided by the manufacturer for the purpose—births, religious events, rites of passage, military service, marriages, deaths—rich generational history that always somehow spoke to me, as if calling out from a bygone era, pleading for remembrance.  These artifacts of celebration and sorrow were mementos of meaning and moment, snapshots of lives lived unselfconsciously, and in full awareness of their impermanence.

More costly volumes of Scripture often carried formal dedications on a special page—“This book is presented to” (so-and-so) “from” (so-and-so) “on the occasion of” (fill in the blank).  It was not uncommon for more affordable versions (including paperbacks) to carry personal inscriptions, the names of giver and recipient writ carefully across a blank page inside the cover.

Sometimes, nothing more was said, while in other instances, there were messages of encouragement to persevere in the faith, and to read and grow in wisdom, insight and maturity. In some cases, there were expressions of heartfelt hope that God would guide the reader’s spiritual development, culminating in the attainment of eternal life in heaven one day.  Other sentiments emphasized the opportunity to build upon the foundation laid so far in the life of a new believer in Christ, and the high importance of doing so.  Sometimes there was an exhortation to find and join a Bible-believing church, sometimes not.

The authors of these missives, touching beyond words, typically informed the addressee that they would be praying for him or her to experience a rewarding and successful spiritual journey with Christ.

I don’t mind telling you that I prized these precious inscriptions and treasured the dear saints who wrote them.  Prayer for both the givers and the gifted became customary.  And while I would often buy up all of the Bibles available and affordable on a particular shopping trip—only to give them away again—I seldom parted with one of these (personally inscribed copies).  I could hardly bear it.

Now for the troubling truth about them: tragically, they were almost always in pristine condition.  The spines were uncreased, the covers unmarred, the pages unwrinkled and unmarked. There was no evidence of handling or wear, no sign whatever to suggest use.

I have no idea what, specifically, went wrong (though something clearly did), to cause the giver’s gift and holy hopes to come to nothing, at least from all outward appearances.  Perhaps the recipient had no real faith in Christ and hence no interest in the gift. Perhaps the donor should have followed up and invested the time to disciple, to model the Christian life, to mentor and cheer on.  Perhaps they were prevented from doing so.

Maybe the recipient lost interest in having a relationship with Christ and neglected to pursue one.  Maybe he or she never made time to read the Bible and eventually forgot all about it. Maybe someone or something else captured their attention and took their life in another direction.  Or maybe, just maybe, it’s like Jesus said, in His tale of the sower (Matthew 13:1-19, 18-23):

“The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear…

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;Yet hath he not root in himself, but [en]dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Jesus Christ still sows His word into the hearts of men, women and children today. What kind of a landing has it made with you? The Bible says that the natural mind cannot understand and will not accept God’s word, because its content is spiritually (supernaturally) discerned (I Corinthians 2:14).  Have you been born from above, born by God’s Spirit or has His word “fallen by the wayside” in your life, where Satan is able to snatch it from your heart?

Have you been suckered by the false gospel that as God’s children, Christians are exempt from trouble and hardship?  Have you fallen for the lie that God has promised us heaven on earth in the here and now?  When things get hot for you because of God’s word, do your enthusiasm and faith wilt because they never truly took root in your stony heart?

Have you allowed the allurements and temptations, the worries and fears of this world to choke the life out of your love for God and your desire for relationship with Him? Have they suffocated your responsiveness to God?  Have you become unfruitful for His kingdom?

Or is your heart fertile soil, soft and yielding, good ground for producing a bumper crop?

What’s your story?  Based on the chapters you have written in your life to date, how will your story end?  Because it will end, you know.  The next page could be the last.  If you belong to Jesus, there’s nothing to fear.  Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Your destiny is reward and glory—an eternity of joy and peace in God’s presence. You will rule and reign with Christ.  A story like that is a thriller.

If you do not belong to Jesus, your name will not be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Because you have ignored the pardon Jesus died to give you, you will be judged on what is written in other books, one containing God’s perfect standards and the other containing your thoughts, words and deeds.  Instead of receiving God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness, you will receive what your unpardoned sins deserve—justice.  Sad to say, your destiny is eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, eternally banished from the face of the Lord.  That’s known as a horror story.

But like those lovingly inscribed gift Bibles, God wants only the best for you.  He invites you to repent of your sins (change course), trust in Jesus, surrender your heart to Him, and live.  God urges you to write a different ending to your story now, while you still can.  Over the course of my lifelong love of books, I’ve read thousands of happy endings.  I pray yours will be one more.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you. Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)