“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother…, and thy mother…; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
2 Timothy 1:5
Precious Memories
Originally published July 2, 2015
I can remember many mornings on the family farm starting with the sounds of the roosters crowing, the smell of strong coffee, and the sight of mom’s open Bible on the kitchen table. Mom’s private reading would be interrupted by the three of us boys falling out of bed and wandering to the table to see what was for breakfast. Afterward we would all break open our Bibles for family reading.
Fly forward with me a couple decades, to another family home, another family table in another family dining room.
There are no chickens squawking, and the girls outnumber the boys 2-to-1, but the aroma of strong coffee and an open Book remind me daily of what a parent needs to survive.
I need an available Bible. I must believe that what guides my life and my eternity is true. If it does not measure up to the standard of “given by inspiration” then how can I with a good conscience READ it, let alone RECOMMEND it? Are there any books that compete with the King James Version, in its divine collection and translation? I know not any, and neither does my mother.
I need to be alone with my Bible. Much good can come by hearing the preaching of the Word at church, but more good can come by “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read.” Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was converted when alone, he read in his father’s private library three words of Scripture: “IT IS FINISHED.” I need to let each word sink in to affect my behaviour and my attitude. The Bible has not lost its savour, it is the shame of many Christians that we have lost our appetite.
I need answers from my Bible. My grandmother faced a sharp question in her life in 1992 when doctors discovered her deadly cancer. She had put her faith in Christ just two years earlier. How would she now face the sickness that would take her life? Could she reconcile the love of the Saviour she had so recently met, with the horrible agony she experienced with this disease?
Many would say that God could, or should, prevent such things; and yes, indeed He can. But the reason that calmed and instructed my grandmother came from her 1611 King James Bible: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked:” How powerful was her testimony backed by those words! How unwavering was her faith when thus it replied! My grandmother trusted the truth, despite what painfulness accompanied it.
She knew that God loved her enough to forgive her sins, though her body suffered from it. She was glad to hear the truth- aren’t you?
And the Book has not changed. Grandma is gone, and mom is far away, but as I listen, and “forsake not the law of… mother” I can faintly discern their voices, as they blend with Heavenly beckonings from “New Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.” God bless the Book that leads us to that wonderfully prepared place!
Spiritual Reload 