{"id":4376,"date":"2018-01-14T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2018-01-14T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4376"},"modified":"2018-01-08T18:34:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T00:34:53","slug":"choose-to-cherish-gods-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4376","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Cherish God’s Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet Another Year of Choices<\/em><\/p>\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Many do not understand what a blessing it is to have a Bible readily available to read. Today we don\u2019t have to wait for Moses to come down from a mountain with a tablet of stone to hear what God has to say. We don\u2019t have to wait for Paul\u2019s next parchment epistle to arrive in the mail. We have access to God, His thoughts, and His example at our fingertips. Do we realize what a privilege that is?<\/p>\n

In biblical times the average person did not have access to a Bible. In those days only the religious leaders had a copy of the Bible and probably not in total. That\u2019s why public reading of Scripture was important. Paul refers to this in Timothy 4:13: \u201cTill I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure what scrolls or parchments New Testament leaders had access to, but I do know that people weren\u2019t just grabbing their Bibles and heading over to Joe\u2019s house for an impromptu Bible study. Many at that time were illiterate. When the Bereans were commended for searching Scriptures daily, they were making an effort to get together with someone who could read and had access to portions of the Bible. (Acts 17:11) Reading or studying the Bible was a shared activity with people supporting and encouraging one another.<\/p>\n

Once the Bible was canonized, copies of the Scriptures were copied by hand. Emperors like Constantine or religious authorities would sanction that Scriptures could be copied by scribes. This was a huge, laborious undertaking. We cannot imagine what it took to produce just one hand copied version of the Bible. Each word had to be carefully formed in ink with no room for error since there was no \u201cWite-out\u201d or \u201cCorrecto-type\u201d available.<\/p>\n

During the Middle Ages, around 600 to 1400 AD, several thousand monasteries were established across Europe to copy the Bible. Teams of scribes and artists produced magnificent parchments filled with beautiful artwork. Most people in the Middle Ages were illiterate so these pictures, designs, and illustrations were very popular.<\/p>\n

Of course, a lot of these Bibles were huge and expensive \u2013 not available to the common man. They would be put on display at some churches, monasteries, and universities. Years ago I saw some of these magnificent manuscripts displayed at the Getty Museum in Southern California. Unbelievable works of art!<\/p>\n

When the printing press came along in the 1400s, the flood gates of information became available to ordinary, everyday people. Many were skeptical of this new invention, but actually the printing press was the Internet of its time. Eventually literacy and access to books became widespread. The Bible became accessible to the average person \u2013 people like you and me.<\/p>\n

Consider this\u2026 When something is readily available, it is not always appreciated. It\u2019s taken for granted and not valued. Christians can\u2019t afford to do this with God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Do we long to understand God\u2019s precepts, His principles for living a happy, productive life? (Psalm 119:40) Do we allow God\u2019s Word to be a lamp to guide our steps? (Psalm 119:105) God wants His Word to be a vital part of our lives. He wants it written in our hearts, taught to our children, and discussed. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) God wants His Word cherished!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a final thought\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Would you rather be without a Bible or your cell phone?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren \u00a0 Many do not understand what a blessing it is to have a Bible readily available to read. Today we don\u2019t have to wait for Moses to come down from a mountain … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}