Shopping for a new Bible

So, I have one Bible I use on a regular basis. I love my blue KJV hard back Bible. It is very well loved. So well loved, in fact, that half of Acts-Revelation has fallen out. Like I said, I love my Bible. Anyway, it's the only KJV I own and I'm really not a fan of the NIV or the NLT, both of which I have for research purposes, so I'm stuck with my falling apart Bible.

I was getting ready to go to Bible study last night and my mom said I should really get a new Bible. She even offered to let me use hers. But hers is a NIV, and like I said, I'm not a fan. So, I thanked her for her generosity and headed out the door.

I had a few minutes to kill so I went to Barnes and Noble because they have Bibles on sale a lot of the time and you can get a deal depending on what you want. I was just browsing through and noticed a couple funny looking Bibles. One was a NLT and was called "The Metal Bible," and just as the name indicates it was made of metal. Another Bible I saw didn't look like a book. It looked like a woman's wallet with a clasp and everything. I can't seem to find a photo of it right now, so you'll just have to imagine it.

Anyway, I thought to myself that the Bible companies are getting rather creative. You can have a Bible that doesn't look anything like a Bible! Seriously, it is a shame I can't find a photo of the wallet looking one because quite honestly I didn't realize it was a Bible. I thought some poor lady had accidentally put her wallet down and forgotten it. That's when I spotted a box with one in it. I suppose I can see the appeal. Want to read your Bible at work but don't want people to know what it is? Just say it is your wallet and that you were balancing your check book if you get caught.

I could see the use of Bibles that don't look like Bibles if you were trying to smuggle them into a country where Christianity is against the law, but then again from the things I've heard about Christians in other countries I'm not sure they would like them. They're not ashamed to carry their well loved Bibles around though they often risk ridicule and persecution for their beliefs.

Yet, we in America (the land of the free) walk around petrified of sharing our faith and try to hide something that we should never be ashamed of, God's word. We have more freedom than many other people would ever dream of, and yet we are the ones who walk around like we could get shot for mentioning Christ. We are the ones who are scared. And of what?

Jesus Himself told us not to fear those who could destroy the body, but to fear the One who could destroy both the body and soul. Why do we hide? We have it so easy, and yet we are the ones who need Bibles that don't look like Bibles.