The Family Bible

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement
The Family Bible

A few generations ago, it was quite common for a family to purchase a very large, thick Bible to record the births, marriages and deaths of the family for future generations. Often the covers were quite ornate with fancy fonts. Some even bore a chiseled look. Carefully dusted, these Bibles often decorated the parlor. I don’t know how often the Biblical content was read because the large size of the Family Bible made it harder to handle for reading. The one my family owned was stuffed with letters and news clippings–a valuable record of by-gone times and lives. Today’s minimalist would be reluctant to make space for these large Bibles. But, the value of those records of dates and of the happenings of the times is a family treasure, worth at least the space of a digital thumb drive. Some letters spoke of deep grief over the deaths of several family children. Some recorded set-backs when droves of insects destroyed crops. Church bulletins bore witness to prayer gatherings for rain in the midst of a long drought.

Be it a large Bible or a thumb drive with historical records, we can learn a lot about how to face the griefs and hardships of our times from those who walked this earth before us. More than the records the Bible contained, the actual content of the Biblical text provided our ancestors with the courage to face life with its assorted difficulties. While we don’t need to display large Bibles, we profit from soaking up Biblical wisdom and guidance from reading the word of God. Just as our forebearers went to God for His answers in the face of the problems of their day, we learn from how people of long-ago loved God. He isn’t a matter of style or fashion, rather He is the author of love, the kind of love that energizes us and lifts us above the daily battles of this world. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.” God’s love never goes out of style.