Bible Advice

Things at work have been pretty crazy lately. I found a short devotional that really fit our situation, so I emailed it to a few co-workers. One of them came to me in tears after reading it. Basically, she knows she needs God in her life, but has never gone to church, never read the Bible. We talked for a little while, and I am hoping to study the Bible with her.

My plan is to buy her a Bible. She doesn't own one right now. The problem is that I am a Bible junky. I have over 20 Bibles in as many translations. Study Bibles. Story Bibles. Plain text Bibles. Old Bibles. New Bibles. Daily Bibles. etc, etc, etc. Any opinions as to what would be the best Bible to buy someone with ZERO Bible knowledge?

I am leaning toward a Bible in the New Living translation. Would a study Bible be overwhelming? Not to me, but I am trying to think like someone who has never picked up a Bible.

Any thoughts? Words of wisdom?

Save the Children

Have you ever loved a child? I mean really loved a child? I don't have kids, so I can't begin to imagine what a parent's love must feel like. I know what it feels like to receive that love, but I don't know what it is to feel that love. Emily is the closet I've gotten to really loving a child with a fierce kind of love. A love that makes you want to protect them from harm, save them from mistakes, remove all their pain. When she smiles and giggles, it is as if all is right with the world. In that moment, thoughts of work or troubles all seem to float away. I find myself getting caught up in her childlike charm. My inner child connects with her, and if only for a moment, I am a child again myself. Her sweetness and joy seem to fill the room like a magical fairy dust that puts me in a trance.

When I look at her precious face, I see her wide-eyed innocence. Oh, how I long for that to be preserved. I want her inner child to remain alive and strong. I pray that she will always honor and protect that part of herself, not taking life too seriously and getting wrapped up in the dictations of this world. I look at how perverse the world has become, and think that it will only take a second to taint that purity. Sometimes I wonder when it is that we transition from innocent childhood into the world of hungry lust, greed and selfishness. If only we could pinpoint that moment, capture it somehow, and go back in time and re-direct ourselves. Kind of like George Bailey or Marty McFly, going back to the past in order to review, correct and re-direct the future.

I remember growing up, my parents would always say stuff like, "I am only trying to save you from making a big mistake" or "I want you to learn from my mistakes." Oh, but no. I wanted a full set of mistakes to call my own. And inevitably, as is most often the case - we grow up only to discover that our parents were right. Now we find ourselves trying to save others from themselves. Thank God that He came to do that very thing!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!"
1 Jn 3:1
God calls us to have a childlike faith. This passage from 1 Thessalonians is kind of like the "Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten" guide to living with the faith of a child:
"Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
1 Thess 5:12-24

I thank God that He uses everything from the cradle to the grave, looking ahead and behind, and everything in between to teach us, reach us, mold us, shape us, and ultimately save us.