Dust on the Bible

We weren't the first to do it, and we won't be the last, but when we were little, my sister and I had our first experience with singing the wrong lyrics to the song. Everyone has misheard the words to some song before, and it usually takes someone else explaining things before we can understand what the lyrics actually say. For our part, we discovered one day the song really says, "There might be a little dust on the bottle / But don't let it fool you about what's inside." David Lee Murphy came out with that song in 1995 -- and to a nine-year-old church kid, it sounded a whole lot like "There might be a little dust on the Bible." It only makes sense if you ignore the verses and sing the chorus, but what kid cares about that?

Sadly, there are probably more Bibles than bottles collecting dust in people's homes these days. I admit that when I get too busy, one of the first things I neglect is my evening Bible reading. Many people do the same thing, opting to do something else with that time. When that privilege becomes just another duty, when cares of life replace love of God's word, when we think we'll be OK while knowing we won't, the Bible stays on the shelf and collects dust.

As the home, so the church, and as the church, so the country. Our nation has stopped believing in the Bible. Why? It stopped being believed, stopped being preached in churches. Why? It stopped being read at home. Why? We decided other things took priority over simply spending time with God through the reading of His word. Yet we all know how much better our lives become when we blow off the dust, open our Bibles, and read. Imagine, then, how much better our country would be if everyone would just take the time to read the Scriptures at home.

There might be a little dust on your Bible, but what's inside is a treasure beyond price. Brush it off, open it up, and begin. Take and read.