....that's what I'm like at the annual Library Book Sale. There are tables and tables of books set out for sale, either library discards or donations, priced at ten cents for a paperback (twelve for a dollar!) or fifty cents for a hardcover. Them's penny candy prices!
In spite of the fact that I love the annual January sale, I never seem to keep up on what week it actually transpires each year, and it's hit or miss for me. Sometimes I catch it, sometimes I don't. This year, I happened to walk in on it, and not having prepared for it, I only had a dollar or so in change with me. So I stuck to looking at paperbacks, figuring that was the biggest bang for my literal buck.
The biggest find (literally and figuratively) was this:
For several months now I've been wanting a copy of The Jerusalem Bible, partly because I've read about it and it sounded interesting, and partly because, to tell the truth, I'm a bit of a bible version junkie.
Years ago, I had all sorts of odd versions, and then I had the misfortune to read a couple of books that argued that the King James version was the only inspired, God-ordained version, and I got rid of all my non-KJV bibles. Then I changed my mind, and once again I am enjoying accumulating and reading many different versions. (Most of them, except for my KJV {smile}, are cheap paperback copies, because how can I justify owning piles of expensive leather bibles--even though I would love to if I could afford it--when so many people don't even have ONE bible? That's my guilty disclaimer... Anyway...)
Years ago, I had all sorts of odd versions, and then I had the misfortune to read a couple of books that argued that the King James version was the only inspired, God-ordained version, and I got rid of all my non-KJV bibles. Then I changed my mind, and once again I am enjoying accumulating and reading many different versions. (Most of them, except for my KJV {smile}, are cheap paperback copies, because how can I justify owning piles of expensive leather bibles--even though I would love to if I could afford it--when so many people don't even have ONE bible? That's my guilty disclaimer... Anyway...)
On my bible shelf at this moment I have:
KJV
NKJV
ESV
NRSV
NLT
NASB
HCSB
NIV
Phillips New Testament
The Five Books of Moses (Everett Fox)
and, now, of course, The Jerusalem Bible.
Which brings me back to my original thread of my great deals at the book sale. I was so tickled at finding the bible, beings as that particular incarnation is out of print and hard to find, not to say kind of expensive when you CAN find it, that I figured I bought the bible with my dollar and the other eleven books were FREE!
And now I just have to share something. This morning as I was waking up, wondering how achy I was going to be once I got up, and wishing my golfer's/tennis elbow would subside, I suddenly thought I knew why sometimes we feel betrayed by God. If we are put here in this life to accomplish certain things, and are given promises by God that he would help us, then we find we are failing because we are ill, and feeling helpless and abandoned-- well, it sort of feels unfair. God is expecting things from us we can't do. In addition, we know that we walk by faith, not by sight, and that we are being trained in faith-- but for what? Normally when a person trains for something, it's because they are going to do that very thing. You practice running to run. You practice dancing to dance. The idea of learning to live without hearing God speak, or seeing him work, or without his help, seems to point to a horrible eternity. As I asked Hubby later, What are we being trained for?
But then. This morning after my vacuuming was done I picked up my new bible, and began reading. I just sort of flipped around, reading a few pages here and there, getting a "feel" for it. Then I read this, from 2 Corinthians:
"...though this outer man of ours may be falling into decay, the inner man is renewed day by day. Yes, the troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them."
Oh my goodness. There's my answer, in my exact terms. We are being trained for glory. Wow. I don't know exactly what that will look like, but it's gotta be good.
KJV
NKJV
ESV
NRSV
NLT
NASB
HCSB
NIV
Phillips New Testament
The Five Books of Moses (Everett Fox)
and, now, of course, The Jerusalem Bible.
Which brings me back to my original thread of my great deals at the book sale. I was so tickled at finding the bible, beings as that particular incarnation is out of print and hard to find, not to say kind of expensive when you CAN find it, that I figured I bought the bible with my dollar and the other eleven books were FREE!
And now I just have to share something. This morning as I was waking up, wondering how achy I was going to be once I got up, and wishing my golfer's/tennis elbow would subside, I suddenly thought I knew why sometimes we feel betrayed by God. If we are put here in this life to accomplish certain things, and are given promises by God that he would help us, then we find we are failing because we are ill, and feeling helpless and abandoned-- well, it sort of feels unfair. God is expecting things from us we can't do. In addition, we know that we walk by faith, not by sight, and that we are being trained in faith-- but for what? Normally when a person trains for something, it's because they are going to do that very thing. You practice running to run. You practice dancing to dance. The idea of learning to live without hearing God speak, or seeing him work, or without his help, seems to point to a horrible eternity. As I asked Hubby later, What are we being trained for?
But then. This morning after my vacuuming was done I picked up my new bible, and began reading. I just sort of flipped around, reading a few pages here and there, getting a "feel" for it. Then I read this, from 2 Corinthians:
"...though this outer man of ours may be falling into decay, the inner man is renewed day by day. Yes, the troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them."
Oh my goodness. There's my answer, in my exact terms. We are being trained for glory. Wow. I don't know exactly what that will look like, but it's gotta be good.
No comments:
Post a Comment