Bible Versions

“Hello, Uncle Jeremiah!” shouted Michael and Sabrina as they entered the small hut without knocking.

Jeremiah chuckled as he looked up from the book he was reading. “Hello, children. What have you been up to?”

“I helped Mom work in the orchard today, then practice with my sword a bit,” replied Michael as he took a seat at the table.

“I wrote a will,” Sabrina announced.

“A will? Why did you write a will for?” asked the confused Jeremiah.

“Well, we never know when God will take us, so I figured I better be ready. Want to see it?”

Sabrina reached into her satchel and pulled out a piece of paper.

“I guess so. Though I don’t know how much I like this subject.” Jeremiah took the paper from Sabrina’s hand and read it slowly.

“That was very well written. I think I’ll make a copy of it.” Jeremiah rose from his chair and grabbed a pencil and paper.

“Why do you want a copy?”

“So I have one to read whenever I want. Though I think I’ll make a few changes to mine.”

“Changes?” replied Michael. “What kind of changes?”

“Let’s see... Here, I don’t quite like how your sister used this word. I think I’ll change it to a similar one.”

“But I want that word there, Uncle Jeremiah!” Sabrina said sternly, a glare forming on her face.

Jeremiah ignored her and continued writing.

“I think I’ll change this word too, and this one. That doesn’t make too much sense, so I’ll just make a slight change. I don’t like that phrase there, so I’ll get rid of that.”

“What are you doing? You’re ruining it!”

“And finally, I don’t think you really meant what you wrote there, so I’ll change that.”

“Of course I meant to put that there!”

Jeremiah let down his pencil as he finished and read what he wrote. “There, I think that looks good. What do you think?” he asked as he handed his paper to Sabrina.

Sabrina snatched it out of his hand and began reading Jeremiah’s version of her will. She scowled the entire time.

“It’s not the same. You changed some really important stuff. I like mine better.”

Jeremiah smiled as he took his paper back. “I guess you’re right.”

Michael spoke up. “Besides, when Sabrina goes to heaven, her will is going to be what people go by, not yours.”

“What you’re saying is that mine is worthless because Sabrina didn’t write it herself?”

“Exactly.”

“I think that’s a very good point. But do you know that many scholars do the exact same thing and try to pass off their copies as the real thing?”

“Really?” replied the twins simultaneously.

Jeremiah smiled as he reached for his Bible.

“You see, children. This is God’s Will to us. It is His instructions and His plans. It tells us everything there is to know about God. The Bible is the most important document in the world. Yet people have the audacity to change it. They use the excuse they’re changing it so it’s easier to read. Or they use some other excuse. Yet they still claim it’s God’s Word. But as Michael said, when I changed Sabrina’s will, it no longer was hers, but became mine. It was my interpretation of her will. Just as these writings are the scholars’ interpretations of Scripture. Every word, every letter is important. The Bible says ‘For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’

“The Bible is so important, God doesn’t want us changing one letter, even one part of a letter. When people do that, they change the meanings. God’s Word is so deep, so beyond our understanding, that even if we think what we changed was harmless, we are tampering with something too complex for us to understand perfectly. We don’t know what we’re actually doing. The scholars are saying they know better than God when they change His Word. God supposedly made a mistake, so now they have to fix it. But God knows better than us all. And He will preserve his Word in every language it is written in so that we know we are reading the truth. Sabrina, you didn’t want me changing your will, do you think God wants me changing His?”

“No. God is perfect. He wrote what He wrote for a reason,” Sabrina replied thoughtfully.

“Exactly. Do you think in heaven there will be several different books of God’s Word?”

“Of course not,” said Michael. “It would be so confusing. And God is not the author of confusion.”

“Very good, Michael! And in Luke 21:33, it says ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.’ God’s Word will last forever, and there can only be one. Like my version of Sabrina’s will was worthless, so are the other versions of God’s Will. The others will be destroyed.”

With that, Jeremiah took his version of Sabrina’s will, crumpled it up, and threw it into the fireplace. In a second, it was gone.

“So why should we be reading these scholar’s versions if they’re just going to burn up?”

“We shouldn’t,” Michael stated.

“Good, I think you’ve got my point. Now let’s get supper ready!” Jeremiah spoke as he rose from his chair.

“Care to help me peel the potatoes?”

Obviously lost in thought, Sabrina just sat there while Michael began to help.

“Hey, wake up Sabrina!” shouted Michael.

“Oh sorry,” she replied, jumping up. She grabbed a knife and looked around.

“Where’s the apples?”

Michael and Jeremiah laughed.

“Potatoes, child. We’re skinning potatoes.”

“Oh,” Blushing, Sabrina quickly grabbed a potato.

“What were you thinking about?” inquired Jeremiah.

“Oh, I was just thinking about God’s Word. It’s His “Word”, not “Words”. It’s single. One item. If you take any word, or any item for that matter, and change anything, no matter what, it’s going to be different. Like this potato.” She held up her half-skinned potato. “It’s not quite the same anymore, even though all I did was skin it a little. It’s changed. It’s no longer the potato God created. I changed it into something of my own.”

Jeremiah turned and looked at Sabrina. “Those are some very good thoughts, Sabrina. Now let’s get this supper ready! I’m starving! Time for a potato peeling race!”