John 1:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

I grew up reading the King James Version of the bible. I strayed away from reading the bible during my stint in the Army and during Vietnam. This is not about my time away, it is about my return.

Years later my life was falling apart so I picked up the only bible in the house. It was a small print NIV. As I read it each night I began to get headaches. I needed glasses but had not started wearing prescription lenses. I thought to myself, “I would like a KJV in large print.”

The next day a neighbor returned from her mother’s funeral with a box full of bibles. She said that she was going to keep her mother’s because her mom had written notes on the margins and highlighted certain passages. It made her feel closer to her mom. She offered me the choice of bibles from the box.

On the very top was a GIANT print King James Version bible. God had looked into my heart and answered what might have been a prayer on my part. I am not sure I meant it as a prayer.

It was brand new. No one have even opened it. The binding was still stiff is the day in was printed. Because I felt this was a gift from God via a fellow Christian, it took on a special place in my heart. Respect was paid to His Word. I never marked it with highlighters nor wrote in it.

I have oily skin and over the years having read through the entire bible more than twice, it began to show stains on the pages I frequently visited. I could find my favorite chapters of the bible just be looking at the heaviest stains.

During those days I would see reference passages at the end of a verse where the subject matter was spoken of elsewhere. I began using those addresses to look up more and more passages.

Then the computer age came.