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The Well-used Word

Read: Psalm 119:9-16

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (vv. 15-16)

If you look at my Bible, you will see that it looks ancient, with torn and wrinkled pages. If you open it, you see highlighted lines going every way imaginable. How I wish my Bible could look better, but it can’t. My disability makes it almost impossible for me to keep pages in books looking neat.

It used to bother me that my Bible looked so tattered. I thought, “This is God’s Word, his gift to me, and I should keep it in good condition.” But then I realized that it is a gift for me to use and read daily.

In Hebrews, the Bible is compared to a sword. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword . . . , piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). A sword is supposed to get hard use. It is used for winning battles. Many nicks and scratches on a sword show that it has been used in battle over and over again.

If God’s people read his Word often, it is normal that it will get banged up. I hope your Bible is looking used, maybe not as tattered looking as mine, but used. If it is, then you are hiding his Word in your heart. —Steven Laman

As you pray, thank God for his Word.

About the Author

Steven Laman is a writer and public speaker who has lived with cerebral palsy since his birth in 1970. Steven is a prolific devotional writer for Words of Hope, and the author of three books: My Journey God’s Grace, Strength in Weakness and My Grace Is Sufficient. He also volunteers as a teacher’s aide. He lives with his parents in Iowa.

This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series My Journey, God's Grace