My television just went out. For most people, that would be a major disaster of life. A recent survey I read asked the question, “What is the most important thing in your house?” Over 70% said, “My television.” What a sad state of existence we have in this country. Of course, I like TV as much as the next guy, but I can live without it. We have another one in the house, so it’s not like I have been shut out from the world for the last several days. “Back in the day”, we would load up the set in the car and drive it to the local TV repair shop and get it fixed. There were even guys who would make “house calls” and fix your TV on site. Yeah, I know, the Stone Age. Now we just buy another one. I am not even sure you could find a TV repairman anymore. I would bet if you went to Best Buy and asked if they could fix your TV, they would think you were speaking in tongues. We had this TV for about 4 or 5 years. I could never prove this, but I still think that they design these things to specifically blow up in a set amount of time. It’s almost like they put a chip in there that counts down the days to warranty expiration, and then adds a few more for good measure just to keep us from raising suspicion.
My Bible is the most important thing in my house. If my home caught on fire and I had to get out with one thing, it would be a no-brainer. I would grab my Bible and run out the door. I have several Bibles, but my main study Bible is the one I am referring to. I bought it in 1985, so I have had it now for about 28 years. It is a “wide margin” Bible, so I have plenty of notes written in it, and I know right where everything is. I can picture verses in my mind based on what column they are in and whether they are at the top or bottom of the page. I use colored pencils to highlight certain words and phrases, and I can find things in it just by looking for certain colors based on my color code. It still works just as good as new after 28 years, and even better than new. Yes, there are a few rumpled pages and some missing pieces on the cover. But it is not programmed to fail. One day, this physical piece of leather and paper will eventually fall apart. But the precious truths of God’s words will live on forever.
One of the so-called “wise” proverbs of the world says, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The reason they say that is to “diversify” so that if the basket falls and your eggs break, you still have others. That is probably a very wise investment strategy. We have all been made painfully aware that the markets are incredibly fickle and volatile, and their unpredictability has cost all of us in the last few years, even those who are not in the markets. But the “eggs in one basket” strategy does not compute with the Bible. I have all of my trust in what it says. If Jesus is not who he said he was, I am in trouble. I am not worried about that basket falling.
In the Christian world these days, it seems we have the same “planned obsolescence” mentality. The book God gave the English speaking world 400 years ago isn’t good enough anymore. So over the last few generations, we have had an explosion and proliferation of “updates”. It is like your computer. Every time you buy new software, they send you “updates” every month. I saw a Bible catalog a while back that boasted of “over 750 Bibles to choose from!” Like that is a benefit to the body of Christ? It is no wonder we are confused. If you went to the grocery store and found 750 different boxes of cereal to choose from, you would just stand there in a mental stupor drooling all over yourself trying to decide which one was best for your family. But we think it is just fine for the “bread of life”. As soon as they come out with a new version, it seems they have a “chip” programmed in it to make it obsolete in a month so they can give us a new revision of the update of the new revision. I have the word of God in my language. It works just fine. “Heaven and earth will pass away” (Mark 13:31) before the basket falls and it breaks.
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