Grandpa Henry Was Right!
Thursday, February 8, 2024
“Look ‘em up, put ‘em down, A’s will surely follow if wisely used.” – Grandpa Henry
I have no idea who Grandpa Henry is, but he wrote the inscription above on the inside cover of a book I recently bought at a thrift store. The book was the 16th edition of “Barlett’s Familiar Quotations”, and it contains 794 pages of quotations and another 611 pages in the index at the end.
Rest assured, that should give me enough writing material for another 20 years of daily devotional messages… or until God calls me home or the Lord returns, whichever comes first.
The first edition of Barlett’s Familiar Quotations was published in 1855. It contained quotes from 169 different authors spread over 258 pages. Compare that to the five-pound tome that I bought that contains more than 20,000 quotations from 2,550 different authors… 340 of whom are included in Bartlett’s for the very first time.
Care to guess who is quoted the most frequently in this latest edition? William Shakespeare and the Holy Spirit, who inspired every “jot and tittle” of the Bible.
As Grandpa Henry attested, good grades will surely follow someone who memorizes and applies some of the famous quotes included in Barlett’s. More importantly, a God-pleasing life and eternal life in heaven will follow the person who takes to heart God’s Word and all it contains… especially the plan of salvation outlined in the “Romans Road” (Romans 3:10; 3:23; 5:1-2; 5:8; 6:23; 8:1; and 10:8-13).
Grandpa Henry was right!
“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” John 6:68-69 (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President