…To Be Humbly Grateful

In my devotional today, the author asks, “What is your level of gratitude concerning the access and availability of the Bible?” I would have said grateful, but I gained insight this last weekend, that makes me feel humbled and eternally grateful to have access to God’s Word.

Last weekend my Aunt and Uncle were visiting, and we went to two museums: the Holocaust Museum and the Bible Museum. Both of these museums were profoundly impactful and humbling. But the most impactful and humbling exhibit I saw was a very large room at the Bible Museum that had large bookshelves lining the walls all around the room. Those bookshelves were full of the bindings of books; each one representing a different language. There were thousands of them each with the label of a language. These bookshelves went from floor to ceiling. But there was one small section of one wall where the book bindings were filled. These represented the languages with current translations of the whole Bible. All the other thousands of bindings we either only partially filled (the New Testament), but most of them were completely empty. These are people who do not have access to the Word of God in their native language.

This reality shocked me! I couldn’t wrap my head around it! We take the Word of God for granted bc we have always had it (in our lifetime) readily available to us in our language and in different translations! And yet thousands and thousands do not.

I have come to love the Word of God more and more. I feel that I am like David; craving/valuing it more than anything else in my life. But after this weekend, I am overwhelmed with what a privilege it is to have such a cherished resource, as well as a responsibility to live and share its contents! God has entrusted us with this privilege, and we need to cherish it!

“Heavenly Father (Abba), I am overwhelmed and humbled that You would give us Your Words/instructions/guidance that gives us the principles in which to live Your will, Your way. So many do not have the same privilege. Thank You for opening my eyes to see this truth! Holy Spirit, give us a sustaining hunger and thirst for the Words you have for us, that we may know and share Your Words, forgiveness, grace, mercy, kindness, direction, and love. Open our eyes to the wonderful truths in Your Instruction. We want to honor the privilege You have bestowed upon us by obeying Your Words. Impart them on our hearts. In Jesus’ name.”

Contributed by: Molinda Hern