IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.  Genesis 1:1–2

“好孩子圣经” were the large glittery characters that greeted me when I picked up the new Chinese Bible that had just come in the mail. I’ve been studying Chinese for a while, and I finally decided to put my large, hardback ESV/Chinese Study Bible from Crossway on the bookcase and replace it for the one in front of me that has a picture of animated children and an ark with a rainbow on it. “Good Child Bible” is what the characters mean, and inside I saw an amateur version of Genesis 1:1-2. It took 52 characters to write the verse in Chinese, and I had to look up 11 of them. For someone that has been working on learning Chinese for a few years now, it feels depressing.  But it's also the reason I decided to place my nicer study Bible on the shelf (along with my pride!) and pick up this kid’s version. It seemed ironic to start at the beginning in both ways: literacy level and biblical chronology. But it was also a reminder; I should never be deluded enough to imagine that I don’t need a refresher on the basics! I think often my problems come from trying to “adult” my way through them, instead of being the simple child of God I am. There is a lot of peace and rest available when I set aside my pride and settle in with nothing more than a Good Child Bible and the humility to look up the words.

Joe Ensley