A Bible That's Falling Apart...

I hate it when a good book ends. Yesterday I finished reading "Sisterchicks in Gondolas" by Robin Jones Gunn and I regretted turning the last page. Although fiction, it had been a heart-gripping book for me. I even made a list of quotes from the book that struck me so intently so I wouldn't forget them. Ideas about shame and grace and freedom. I shared one of those thoughts in my blog about shame. I'd like to share another one today: "A Bible that's falling apart ususally belongs to a person whose life isn't." I'm reminded of the first Bible I owned after I became a Christian at the age of fourteen. I read it over and over, underlining passages and memorizing Scripture from it until the binding literally fell apart. Fast forward twenty-plus years to the present. I no longer own just one Bible that I read from on a daily basis, but now I own several Bibles in different translations and sizes. I have Bibles I mark in, and others I don't. Some are used for study purposes, others simply for reading. I've got favorites for memorizing verses. Favorites for toting along to Bible studies. And depending on what my "flavor of the day" is, I have at least a half dozen translations to choose from for general reading. Have I complicated the process of reading God's Word? At the very least, with the inconsistency in which Bible I use, I most likely won't see another Bible fall apart any time soon!
I guess the real issue isn't how many Bibles I own or use, but whether or not I am in God's Word consistently. Am I reaching for it as I reach for food when my physical body is hungry? My spirit needs to be fed the Word just as my body needs to be fed food. Am I daily reading it, listening to it, meditating on it, and digesting it? My spirit will shrivel up and die if I go too long without God's sustaining Word. Of course it would make sense that a Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to a person who whose life isn't. No other book can impart the hope, healing, guidance and grace needed to keep a life together. My prayer is that God would help me to always be faithful to His Word. May He help me to daily desire above all else that which I need the most...His holy, empowering, encouraging, guiding, cleansing, healing, live-giving Word.