In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. – John 1:1, Amplified Bible (AMP)

Evangelist Mike Washer of National Hoops Ministries had just returned from a long trip to Asia when he spoke to our church. During his talk, he told us about something he had heard as a child about how to treat the Bible. One of his basketball coaches once told the team how irritated he became when he saw students put books, papers, and other items on top of their Bibles. “The Bible is the Word of God,” the coach said, “and it should be treated with the respect it deserves. Please don’t put stuff on top of your Bibles. Put your Bibles on top of everything else.” To this day, Pastor Mike tries to keep his Bible free of debris. Having heard the same thing when I was a child, I try to do the same.

Bibles are so plentiful in our country that we tend to treat the Bible as some common, ordinary book. It’s not common or ordinary. It’s the very breath of God, and it ought to be cherished by us as much as by those who risked their lives to pass it on to us. The folks in India cherished it, as Pastor Mike related:

We handed out hundreds of Bibles while in India, and both children and adults grabbed their copies as if they had found precious treasure. I remember clearly one teenage boy placing his Bible next to his heart, and that showed me just how much God’s Word meant to him.

How close to your heart is God’s Word? Do you throw it around like a dirty rag? Is it gathering dust on your desk, unwanted and unopened? Have you driven it out of your mind like a bad memory? Or, do you see God’s Word for what it is – a great treasure given by The Father to His children? As we approach the New Year, consider making a commitment to treat God’s Word the way it should be treated. If you do – if you cherish it greatly as you consume its wisdom – you will enjoy the inner peace that comes with being transformed into the image of the Savior who died for you and for me.