Thoughts on the Word

Happy Veterans Day! But do you ever remember the Battle for the Bible?

Many people in English speaking nations have heard of William Tyndale, just as Martin Luther carriers a position of admiration for most German speaking believers. These men held in common one specific thing apart from faith. They both believed that people should be able to read the word in their own common language. I know I have blogged on this topic before, but I still think it is pertinent. Do we ever think about what people went through so that you could have ten bibles in your home that you never read?

Tyndale spent his entire life writing and translating the word for the plowman, the blue collar folks who have no access to higher education. He spent much time running for his life, afraid of friendships, unable to really plant his life in any location, he never married (that we know of),ship wrecks and constant travels. He lost his entire translation of the Torah (first five books of the Hebrew bible) in a ship wreck and with out missing a step he managed to start back up and redo all the work he had lost; much like the prophet Jeremiah who lost his work on the book bearing his name and was forced to start all over again.

There are other example of people who sacrificed everything for the word. Do you sacrifice for the Word? We commemorate this day in history in remembrance of the things veterans did on our behalf, but do you commemorate the fact you have the word to read? Do you ever even think about what a bloody trail the bible in English left? How often to you ponder how much other's sacrificed for you to have the ability to read the word without joining a convent or learning Greek and Hebrew?

In closing, I thought that this quote from one of my hero's was pretty pertinent to the idea of the cost of the bible and our response not just to the ONLY book God ever wrote, but the cost other believers pain on our behalf for us to have the privilege to read the word daily.

"I fear we are in danger of forgetting that to HAVE the Bible is one thing, and to READ it quite another." ~ J.C. Ryle