My Dog Ate My Bible

Through everything this past year we got an emotional support dog who has been such a blessing from the Lord and has already been such a gift. He is so good and rarely does anything “bad”. To our surprise, one day we came home to my favorite little yellow bible that I have had for about 8 years completely torn to shreds. Of all things he could have grabbed. I walked in the apartment and was totally stunned. I feel like I have been struggling recently with a negative perspective and being defeated by little things. As I looked around at my destroyed bible, my initial instinct was to laugh as think “who gets to experience this?!” (some of you may remember that perspective I learned in my time in North Africa).

I wanted to be mad but was just genuinely shocked. As I began sweeping up pieces, I picked up a shred of the book of Romans and had the thought “there are so many Christians in the world that would give anything for this ripped piece of one page of a bible and I am here throwing it away”. I was very soberly reminded of the persecuted Church, of our brothers and sisters in prison who have maybe only every dreamt of reading an actual bible. My mind then went to thinking about the early church who had no new testament and what they did hear of the scriptures was what was read at the synagogue or what was read of an epistle at a house church. What those people would give to hold a copy of the scriptures we have today. What those people would give to possess that shred of Romans.

I felt so weird throwing out a bible but I had no idea what else to do with it and I was phenomenally humbled- by the Lord answering my prayers of perspective change as well as by the thoughts he granted me through it. The dog has already taught us and encouraged us in so many ways but this was another sobering and humbling lesson that the scriptures we have are a GIFT to us from God. I truly am privileged to be able to have a “favorite” bible but now I thank God for the lovely gift of the written scriptures that I don’t deserve.