Form vs. Function (Friday Devotional)

 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

- Psalm 119:105

In the corner of my office sits an acoustic guitar. It’s in tune (or pretty close, anyway). All its strings are in good shape. If you know how to play it, you can pick it up and make some beautiful music.

But the thing is, I don’t know how to play the guitar, at least not beyond a few simple riffs I taught myself in high school. Ask me to strum a G chord and I’ll look at you blankly. Tell me to play you a tune and I’ll just laugh. That guitar in the corner may technically be functional, but for me it’s purely decorative.

On the other hand, not 2 feet from the guitar is a brown recliner that used to belong to my grandmother. Beyond that sentimental attachment, there’s nothing particularly special about it. It’s not a beautiful piece of furniture, nor is it hideous. It’s comfortable, but far from luxurious.

But I sit in that recliner, whether for a few minutes or for hours on end, every single day. Whether I’m reading, writing, studying, praying, making a phone call, or just taking a break, I’m often doing it from that brown recliner in the corner. It doesn’t look like much, but I use it all the time.

That brings me to the last thing that’s caught my eye in the corner of my office: my Bible. If you’re reading this devotional, then chances are you have one too. Maybe it’s a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation, filled with photos and handwritten notes and baptismal certificates. Maybe it’s a prized possession, with a real leather cover and pages with gilded edges, the kind of thing somebody had to save up for.

Then again, maybe yours is an old Gideon Bible you ‘borrowed’ from a hotel room 20 years ago. Maybe it’s a study Bible you got for Christmas which is nearly falling apart. Maybe yours is filled with ink stains and highlighter markings.

God gave us his Word so we would learn it and thereby know him. In our time, we have the indescribable blessing of being able to hold personal copies of those scriptures in our hands. So is your Bible more like my guitar—something to look at, but rarely pick up—or is it like my familiar, useful recliner? Is your Bible decorative or functional?