Everything Changed
Once I became a Christian it seemed that everything about me changed. Many things I thought were important became insignificant, and the things that truly mattered rose to the surface. Things that I spent a lot of time and energy collecting didn't really matter to me anymore. I felt like I could loose everything I owned and I would be fine. In fact I had and still have a drive to get rid of a lot of my possessions because I didn't really need them or use them, and I knew that others could benefit from the things of which I no longer had a use. I realized that the things that truly matter are the relationships that we build.
Also, I had really been wanting a new Bible even before I had become a Christian. The Bibles that I owned as a Catholic never really inspired me to read them. In fact I have never really read much of The Bible while I had been a Catholic. I thought that the readings we heard during Church were enough. Boy was I wrong. The next day after becoming a Christian I wanted to go out and buy a new Bible so I went over to my girlfriend's place to pick her up so she could help me pick out a new Bible, and she surprised me with a couple of gifts. I opened one of them and it was a one year book of devotions for men, and I opened the other and it was a Bible. And it was not just any Bible it was a NASB (New American Standard Bible) Life Application Study Bible. What this means is that it "has been produced with the conviction that the words of Scripture as originally penned in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek were inspired by God," and the purpose of making this translation "was to adhere as closely as possible to the original languages of the Holy Scriptures, and to make the translation in a fluent and readable style according to current English usage." There is an explanation of the format and the principles of translation as well as application notes (so you can see how the Scriptures apply to your daily life), explanatory notes, book introductions, outlines, profile notes, maps, charts and diagrams, cross-references, textual notes and sectional headings, an index, a dictionary-concordance-thesaurus, and a harmony of the Gospels (you can read any Gospel account and see just where you are in relation to other events in the life of Christ). In other words this Bible has everything except the kitchen sink. Also, it has a maroon bonded leather cover with my name engraved on the front. This is my most prized possession, and if I ever lost it I would be very very upset since someone very special gave it to me. I have since read a lot of my new Bible (a lot more than I have read in the past 33 years), and I'm currently reading through the Gospel of John as well as many other books due to Church and my daily devotions. I have also been attending a Christian Church and I'm amazed that everyone brings a Bible, and not only does everyone bring a Bible but we actually open it and read from it (something you hardly see if ever in a Catholic Church). It's a good thing that my new Bible has tabs because I don't know where all of the books are in relation to one another and we have to flip to different books pretty quickly in Church. During the time since I have become a Christian reading The Bible has brought me closer to my faith.
Also, I had really been wanting a new Bible even before I had become a Christian. The Bibles that I owned as a Catholic never really inspired me to read them. In fact I have never really read much of The Bible while I had been a Catholic. I thought that the readings we heard during Church were enough. Boy was I wrong. The next day after becoming a Christian I wanted to go out and buy a new Bible so I went over to my girlfriend's place to pick her up so she could help me pick out a new Bible, and she surprised me with a couple of gifts. I opened one of them and it was a one year book of devotions for men, and I opened the other and it was a Bible. And it was not just any Bible it was a NASB (New American Standard Bible) Life Application Study Bible. What this means is that it "has been produced with the conviction that the words of Scripture as originally penned in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek were inspired by God," and the purpose of making this translation "was to adhere as closely as possible to the original languages of the Holy Scriptures, and to make the translation in a fluent and readable style according to current English usage." There is an explanation of the format and the principles of translation as well as application notes (so you can see how the Scriptures apply to your daily life), explanatory notes, book introductions, outlines, profile notes, maps, charts and diagrams, cross-references, textual notes and sectional headings, an index, a dictionary-concordance-thesaurus, and a harmony of the Gospels (you can read any Gospel account and see just where you are in relation to other events in the life of Christ). In other words this Bible has everything except the kitchen sink. Also, it has a maroon bonded leather cover with my name engraved on the front. This is my most prized possession, and if I ever lost it I would be very very upset since someone very special gave it to me. I have since read a lot of my new Bible (a lot more than I have read in the past 33 years), and I'm currently reading through the Gospel of John as well as many other books due to Church and my daily devotions. I have also been attending a Christian Church and I'm amazed that everyone brings a Bible, and not only does everyone bring a Bible but we actually open it and read from it (something you hardly see if ever in a Catholic Church). It's a good thing that my new Bible has tabs because I don't know where all of the books are in relation to one another and we have to flip to different books pretty quickly in Church. During the time since I have become a Christian reading The Bible has brought me closer to my faith.