The Hunt for the "Perfect" Devotional Resource: Part 3

 

I've come to a decision on the eminently fascinating subject of choosing my next devotional resource: The Gideons New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. Its chief advantages as I currently see them are as follows:

1. Size - Even more so than the pocket LSB, this is truly a pocket-sized book. It is unusual for resources advertised as "pocket-sized" to truly and comfortably fit in a man's pants pockets. But this publication does fit, and that gives it an immediate edge over most competitors. It expands the range of situations where you can quickly and easily have God's Word on hand. (And yes, I am aware of smartphones, but for me the distractions created by using them for devotional disciplines far outweigh the benefits.)
2. Books - There are several devotional Psalters available in the ESV, both from Crossway and from Concordia Publishing House. The Pocket LSB functions as a Psalter, in addition to having the text of all the hymns. But obviously your options are greatly expanded with the Proverbs and entire New Testament added. Yet it's still a small enough addition of Biblical books to keep the size under control, something that's extremely difficult to do when publishing the entire Bible. 
3. Translation - I am pretty well committed to the ESV for memorization and meditation purposes. So it works out very well that Gideons switched to the ESV after an agreement with Thomas Nelson (owners of NKJV) was not renewed. And not only do these Testaments use my translation of choice, but they have actually made some modifications to the ESV text, giving greater weight to readings from the Textus Receptus, which was the basis for the KJV. After some discussion with my father and research on the topic, I find this change rather appealing, since I have great respect for the KJV and think it's a good thing for a translation to lend more credence towards some of the older translation decisions. 

I'm excited to try this out. One of the first steps will be to see how much this resource will differ in texts that I've already learned by heart, and relearn them with any small modifications that are needed. I'll gladly take that over learning a whole new version, which I have zero interest in doing after already having to move from NKJV to NIV to ESV with my synod. And at this point, if the synod moves again, I don't see myself following, at least for memorization purposes.

Another step to take will be addressing the various aspects of the Gideons Testament that do not meet my wish list. Specifically:

1. The resource does not have the Psalms pointed for chanting.
2. The resource does not contain any hymns.
3. The resource does not contain Luther's Small Catechism.
4. The resource does not contain (or have extra space for) my personal devotional orders.
5. The resource does not contain various prayers for the Christian.

Regarding the first issue, I will either point the Psalms myself with pencil or pen, or just chant them with note-changes wherever they naturally make sense to me. As I have time and review or learn new Psalms, I can point them based on the LSB. But I'll start by chanting them without the pointing and see whether the pointing is really necessary at all.

Regarding the second through fifth issues, I need to find a way to neatly and professionally and permanently add some pages to the pocket Testament. I was able to successfully do this with my Pocket LSB by stapling and taping pages containing prayers, devotional orders, etc. I don't think I'll go with stapling this time, since the book is so small that staples would create more significant bumps in the pages. I probably won't put in the whole Catechism, since I don't tend to use it much while out and about, and when I'm at home I have plenty of other resources that contain the Catechism. But I could definitely see myself adding a few hymns, The Watchman's Prayer, one or two other selected prayers, and my Daily Office. Most likely this would be a scotch-taped construction, carefully sized and assembled to fit neatly into the existing binding. My estimate is an eight-page supplement, consisting of two pieces of paper each folded in half and double sided (2 x 2 x 2 = 8). 

With a little work, I think I could put something really neat and useful together.

One final area of concern is durability. I've never used a pocket Testament to the breaking point, but I can't imagine them lasting spectacularly long at their price point (free). I have also experienced the ease at which pages can get crumpled because of how this tiny book can fall to the bottom of bags and get mangled. I think the chief solution to this is simply to take very good care of the book. It's also good to know that these things are very easy to get my hands on at a very low price - and once I assemble the devotional supplement, I can easily print out new copies if I need to replace a Testament. This truly could be a lifetime solution at least until my eyes get too bad to read the tiny print. 

I'll end by mentioning the strong legacy that these Testaments bring to the table. The Gideons have been distributing the Word of God around the country and the world for decades now. It is true that the decision theology pushed into their publications is trash, and I'll be excited to cover it up with solid devotional material. But looking at the big picture, these are devotional resources that are sent out into the far reaches and darkest corners of the world, bringing the light of Jesus Christ to hundreds of millions of people. I would be honored to be a part of that good work, to learn the Word of God from this Testament and share it with my family and beyond.