A Well Worn Bible - James W. McManus

I have this vivid memory from my youth of my father and his devotional life. I was a wayward youth, pursuing the sins of the world instead of the grace of Christ. There were times when I would come stumbling home around dawn … and I would find my father at the kitchen table. Laid out in front of him was his worn out black leather New Geneva Study Bible, a notebook and a cup of coffee. Each morning, he would get up around 5 am to start his day in devotions, and in his notebook he would take notes on his devotions and then write out his prayers … and the cup of coffee was there to make sure he stayed awake! Some years later, I would come to find out that many of those mornings when I was coming in from a long night out, my dad was praying for my salvation. He had even put me on the prayer list at Faith ARP in Sumter, SC, and those faithful saints prayed for me as well. Praise be to God, their prayers were answered! 

When I think of devotion to Scripture and prayer, that memory of my dad comes to mind. It’s a legacy that he has passed down to me. It is now my habit to get up early in the mornings so I can have time with the Lord in His word and prayer. I even have a worn black leather Reformation Study Bible (which was born out of the New Geneva Study Bible) that I use … and there is usually a cup of coffee near at hand. 

It’s a legacy I pray is passed along to my children - and to my congregation at Bethel ARP. The more I grow in faith, the more I am convinced of the simplicity of the Christian faith and our growth in it. Many of us know this simplicity of growth as the means of grace - word, prayer, sacrament and fellowship. Christians can only grow when they are feasting on God’s word, united to God in prayer, faithful in taking the sacraments and engaged in the fellowship of their church and with other believers. 

Like many of you, I often encourage my people to pursue these means, this simplicity of growth. There is no magic red pill, there is no other formula except the means of grace. 

I am convinced that this is part of Jesus’ prayer for His people when He prays in John 17:17 , “17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” This is Jesus’ High Priestly prayer for His people - for us! - and He prays that we would be “renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” (WSC #35) How wonderful it is to think that some 2000 years ago, as Jesus was making His way to the cross, He prayed for us - and He prayed this for us! - and He is praying the same for us now as our Mediator. 

This making us more like Jesus is done through the means of God’s truth, the Scriptures. It is only when are in this means of grace, along with the others, that we are enabled to die to the sins that entangle us, and live unto the righteousness of our blessed Lord and Savior! We are made more like Jesus through the means of God’s word. Nothing more, nothing less in that prayer than we are sanctified through the means of God’s truth in His word. 

This sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet, we find how much of a struggle it can be. As pastors, we can lovingly chide our people to be more engaged and focused on these means. Yet, as pastors, we can struggle to be engaged and focused, can’t we? Time and duties can get in the way of doing our daily devotions … our prayers are almost like a duty we need to get done … we may administer the sacraments more than we participate in them … and we oversee the fellowship of the church, and can find that we often aren’t a part of it. 

It may well be that we need to be chided to be more in the means of grace - not just telling others to do it, but doing it ourselves as well. It may be time that you start putting on your calendar a chunk of time for you to be in God’s word (not to study for a sermon, but for your soul), and to pray. It may be time to intentionally call other pastors to have fellowship and not just seek their advice on how to handle a situation at your church. 

A pastor mentor of mine, and someone I consider to be a dear friend and brother, would often tell his congregation that he prayed that a legacy he left for them was how he pastored them and his family. Integral to that was the example he set as a Christian who delighted in the means of grace. It is my prayer that I will be pastor like that, and that I will leave an indelible memory for my children like my father did for me. It is my hope that you will do the same for your family and church. 

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” Charles Spurgeon