When I became a Christian in 1971, I had already been a church member my entire life. In other devotions, I’ve shared how our denomination had a lot of doctrinal training that included studying the Bible. Part of that training was accomplished by my Sunday School teacher Mr. Ondov. He worked on us week after week until we all could stand in front of the class and recite all 66 books of the Bible in order. And then we studied the creeds and the Lord's Prayer. Each week my family would listen to the sermon and then discuss it on the way home from church. But guess what? I didn't give my life to Christ until I was 19 years old! Today's passage from Matthew’s gospel explains a lot about what happened after my conversion, so let's listen to it:

And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.” (Matt.13:52)

After I became a Christian, the Bible became a new book to me. I already knew a lot of Scripture, but suddenly I couldn't get enough of it! I read and read for hours on end. I marked it up with highlighters and I wrote comments in the margins. That was when I began to understand how God’s word applied to me and to the way I lived my life. It was like I had rediscovered a long lost treasure chest, filled with marvelous treasures that had become meaningless to me until I came to know Jesus. Now, many Bibles later, I still mark my Bible up with highlighters and write in the margins. Why? Because 53 years later, God is still showing me things about Him and how to better live a Godward life. How about you? Today, I encourage you to pick up your Bible. If you feel it's too good a Bible to mark up, get one that you can write in. God wants to show you new and life-changing truths about Himself—and about you...and that is very Good News!