Wednesday's Word: Counting The Cost

 

"Now these Jews were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica
for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message concerning
the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining 
 the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."
(Acts 17:11)

*Martyrdom of Anne Askew
(1869)
 "Book of Martyrs"
John Foxe

We have many Bibles in our home, but one in particular is my sentimental favorite.
It belonged to my husband before I adopted it, which makes it all the more dear to me.

It has all his favorite passages underlined, his many little notes in the margins,
(I've read each one) and innumerable creases, smudges and torn spots, which
are inevitable when a book is subjected to prolonged loving abuse.

I must confess I have added some features of my own: a few scribbles, various
folds to mark my spot when I stop reading, the footprints of my preschooler,
who trampled the poor old book when I threw it behind the front seat of my car.
But, worst of all, the cover is now threatening to fall off, due to the fact that
I literally drop everything when my attention is caught by something else.

My favorite Bible.  Its worth to me is great, but it wasn't until a few months
 ago that I realized the true cost of that book-a cost paid by others-that
  I might freely possess my beloved book.

I was studying a history book when I came across a paragraph noting the
words of a fifteenth century bishop of England who wrote scornfully of 
 certain women, "which make themselves so wise by the Bible."

It was the opinion of this bishop that women should have no right to study the Word of God. 

As I continued to read, I learned that some of the women so ridiculed by this bishop
were wives and mothers, who eventually died at the stake for refusing to accept
 any beliefs as God's truth, "save what they can find expressly in the Bible."

I turned to my old favorite then, seeing it afresh.  This book, which I handle with
  such careless, casual ease and freedom, would not be mine if it were not for those
  women (and men) who boldly claimed their right to have the Word of God,
a right they paid for with their own blood.

"Counting The Cost"
A devotional by Elizabeth Larson

"That God not dwelleth in temples made with hands."
(Acts:17:24)

*"Plain Spoken" Anne Askew (1521-1546) was an English writer, poet,
and Protestant preacher  who was condemned as a heretic
 during the reign of King Henry VIII of England.

One of the earliest known female poets to compose in the English language, at
  her trial, Anne's knowledge and mastery of the Bible rivaled that of her inquisitors.

 Her answers infuriated her accusers who were not able to force from her the
  answers they wanted to here.  Anne believed solely in the authority of God's Word,
not in the inferior "religious" wisdom of man.  For this she was imprisoned, tortured, 
and executed by burning at Smithfield, London on July 15, 1546.   
She was only twenty-five years old.