Monday Morning Devotion-November 21, 2005

Book Nut

So, King Darius issued orders that a search be made in

                              the Babylonian archives where treasures were stored.

But, it was at the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of

                              Media that a scroll was found.

                                     Ezra 6:1-2

      It's a dark, cold, wintry night. You can hear the blustery wind outside whistling through the branches of the trees. You have a fire in the fireplace, a blanket over your lap, a cup of hot chocolate on the table beside the sofa where you sit deeply engrossed in reading a book.  Now, tell me that's not a picture of comfort and contentment!  It's one of my favorite things to do, especially when the lovely Susette is snuggled up next to me reading a book as well.

            We go through a lot of books at our house.  Seldom do we just settle in for the night without reading for awhile.  Sometimes if we are real tired we might only read a chapter.  Okay, for Susette, it may be more like a paragraph before she starts reading with her eyes closed? don't know how she does that? and then I hear a clunk.  I look over and sleeping beauty has dropped her book.

            It just doesn't get any better than that.  Closing out the day by reading a book.  Remember the saying, "Books make the world go around."  Or is it "Love makes the world go around."  Maybe it's really "Love of Books make the World go around."

            Books have been bashed over the years.  Doom sayers portended that the invention of the radio would spell the end of books.  Everybody would be listening to radio in their spare time and book reading as a leisurely pursuit would die out. Then the movies were going to take the place of books.  Surely, television would replace books.  Now video games are capturing the minds of the youngsters and they won't take time to read any more.  Gosh, somebody should have told poor old J. K. Rowling before she wasted all that time writing those Harry Potter books that no kids would waste time reading ! :) 

            And aren't many of the Academy Award winning movies based on books? Gosh, even a few Emmy Award winners got their creative spark from books.  Yes, books are good.  But, they sometimes present a little trap for me because I'm supposed be writing books, but often find it easier to read them than to write them.   Although I will say, when I finish reading a good book I feel more inspired to attack my own writing with vigor, hoping that some day my books will be read and enjoyed by people closing out their day on that sofa by the fire.

            There is something magical about the printed word.  Having written those thoughts down gives them an air of respectability as well as authenticity.  When, it is in print it somehow seems more real than if it was just spoken.

            Around 520 B.C. an all out search was made for an important book. Actually this was a book forerunner---the scroll. A certain scroll was being sought out by King Darius.  Here's the background.  Most of these scrolls were made out of clay and papyrus from which an ancient form of paper was constructed.

            Proving that He is a powerful, unpredictable God who can work His plan in disparate ways, God touched the heart of a heathen king to help the Jewish captives.  King Cyrus the Great was the powerful ruler of Persia from 559 to 530 B. C.  He conquered the mighty kingdom of Babylonia and set the captives free. They returned to Jerusalem where they began rebuilding a temple to God.

            Perhaps just as important as his actions was the fact that Cyrus recorded them.  He wrote a book, so to speak, spelling out what his rulings were, so they would be adhered to in the future.  In fact, he was very thorough and detailed in his descriptions.  According to Nelson's Bible Dictionary, Cyrus not only enabled the Jewish people to rebuild, but he helped organize it.  He detailed, in writing, the dimensions and described the materials and supplies to be used.  Cyrus also specified severe punishment for anyone who interfered with this project or disobeyed his orders.

            So, the work began on the temple, but before it was completed Cyrus was killed in battle in 530 B. C.  His tomb still stands in southwestern Iran.  Now, here's where the bureaucracy comes into play.  The work continued under successive kings, but all of a sudden, after Darius gained the throne, a bureaucrat named Tattenai, the Governor of the region, poked his nose into the work of the Jewish temple builders. Tattenai said the words that still ring true on every construction job today.  "Where's your building permit?"  Who gave you permission to do this work?  You can't just go out and build something on your own.  You must have permission and it must be built to acceptable specifications.  

            So, when Tattenai asked about their permission the Jewish leaders said that King Nebucchanezer had destroyed the other temple and that King Cyrus the Great had given them permission to rebuild it.  Naturally, Tattenai wasn't going to just take their word for it.  So, he sent word back to King Darius, "So, now if it pleases the King we request that you search in the royal archives of Babylon to discover whether King Cyrus ever issued a decree to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. And then let the king send us his decision in this matter."

            So, the work stopped while the archives were searched.  After an exhaustive search the lost scroll was found and Cyrus' thorough and specific instructions were honored.  The Jews could thank their God that Cyrus had written it all down.  The NLT says, "How ironic and wonderful that God's work was carried on by the discovery of a lost paragraph in a pagan library." Thank you Lord for books!

            Soon the Lovely Susette and I will be moving into our new home and we'll have the walls lined with our beloved books.  It is fitting that the name of our street is Thoreau Avenue because here is what the great author Henry David Thoreau says about books:  "Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations."

            But the wisdom of Thoreau on the subject of books doesn't end there.  He also said, "A truly good book teaches me better than to read it.  I must soon lay it down and commence living on it's hint.  What I began by reading I must finish by acting."  Now, that's wisdom for the ages. 

      Call me a book nut, if you wish.  It's a designation to be proud of.  Enjoy your reading and all the other areas of your life will be enhanced by the books you read.

Monday Prayer:  Lord thank you for books.  We especially thank you for the greatest of all books, the Bible and how you communicate your wisdom to us when we read it.  Bless all of our reading and help the books that we read to be positive influences in our lives.                 Amen