I once sat at George Müller’s desk and read James 1:27 from his Bible. I once visited a library that contained artifacts from William Carey’s life and leafed through a Bible that he had owned and studied. I have pondered the color-coded notes in Amy Carmichael’s Bible and have paged through a first-edition King James. Closer to home, my father’s Bible was placed at the front and center of the church during his funeral and I had a special wooden case constructed to hold my son’s Bible after he went to be with the Lord.

All of this is to say that I believe in the Bible—I believe in the Bible as the Word of God, the divine scriptures, but also as a special object or artifact that will often outlast the one who owned it, who read it, who treasured it. It is for this reason that I affirm the importance of “heirloom Bibles”—Bibles that are meant to take a place of prominence in the life of an individual or family and that are constructed in such a way that they are likely to last through the rigors of long use. These are the kind of Bibles that can truly be an heirloom—an artifact to be left behind to future generations as a symbol and reminder of the owner’s faith in God and trust in his Word.
The ESV has recently released refreshed editions of three heirloom Bibles: the Omega Edition, the Legacy Edition, and the Heritage Edition. Each of them shares a number of traits: They have black, goatskin covers with gold print and four ribs on the spines. They are soft and supple and generally able to lie flat when open, even when turned to Genesis or Revelation. They are all printed and bound by Royal Jongbloed, feature high-quality paper, have four ribbon markers, and come wrapped in velvet in a handsome two-piece box. They all have the traditional presentation page, along with pages to record births, marriages, and deaths. They are all exquisite in every way and all come with a lifetime guarantee on the print and binding.
They also have some differences.
ESV Heirloom Bible, Legacy Edition is 6” x 9” in size and is modeled after the Renaissance ideal of a perfect page, which means it has a single column of text and wide margins. The font is 9-point, has 1,680 pages, and is 47.43 ounces in weight. Footnotes are in small print at the bottom while headings are in italicized print in the margins. There are no cross references, though it does feature a concordance and selection of full-color maps at the back.

ESV Heirloom Bible, Heritage Edition is quite a bit smaller at 5.5” x 8.25”, though also quite a bit thicker with a page count of 2,056 and a font that is slightly bigger at 9.25 points. It weighs 47 ounces. It has a single column of text and wide margins, though the headings are inline and bolded rather than to the side. It has no concordance, though it does have the maps.

ESV Heirloom Bible, Omega Edition is the biggest of the three at 6.125” x 9.125”. It also has the biggest font at 10.5-point, is laid out in two columns, and has a page count of 1,248. It is the only one of the three to feature cross references, which are set at the bottom of the right-most column of each page. It has both a concordance and a collection of maps. It weighs in at 39.6 ounces.

Thus, while all three are similar in being beautifully made, all three have their own collection of special attributes related to dimensions, font size, layout, and features. If I had to pick just one, I would probably favor the Legacy Edition, but that is merely a matter of preference, and it would truly be impossible to go wrong with any of them. These are special Bibles meant to serve a special purpose and they will serve it well. They are precious, durable, and just the kind of Bible that can be read over a lifetime of personal and family devotions, then left behind as a precious heirloom. In fact, I will be making sure that my daughter and her fiancé are given one at their forthcoming wedding so they can begin that legacy even as they begin their life together.
To purchase these Bibles, try: Legacy Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books); Heritage Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books); Omega Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books). They are also all available directly from Crossway.
(Note: beginning in December, 2021, all three editions will also be available in Horween Leather—a deep brown high-quality cowhide that is meant to develop character over time and with use.)
Here, to show the difference in dimensions, is a snap of all three side by side: Legacy, Heritage, Omega.

I think we are all guilty at times of importing our understanding of earth into our assumptions of heaven. We are all guilty of importing our understanding of how things work here to how they will work there. We look at the world we know and extrapolate to the one we don’t. I sometimes fear, though, that our thoughts of heaven are actually marred by our experiences of earth.

I have often heard people speak of those who are in heaven and use language such as “the people closest to the throne” or maybe those who “have the biggest mansions” or those who are given “the greatest reward.” And certainly there seems to be some variety to the degree of the rewards God will dispense to his people—though variety that will neither swell the hearts of those who receive more nor provoke the hearts of those who receive less (if that is, indeed, the way things work).
When I hear people use language like “those closest to the throne,” they almost invariably speak of people who are known and famous, who are acknowledged by other believers to have accomplished a lot for the Lord and for his purposes. Surely that one who preached so faithfully to such great crowds and that one who wrote books that sold so well and that one who served so committedly and so publicly—surely they are the ones who are counted great in the kingdom. Surely they are the ones who receive the greatest honor in heaven. After all, they are the ones who received the greatest honor on earth. If God’s people held them in such high esteem here, why wouldn’t God hold them in similarly high esteem there?
Yet I can’t help but wonder if this betrays a pattern of thinking that doesn’t understand the mind and heart of God—that assumes that the most public gifts are the most important and that God gives the most important gifts to his most favored people. Or that there is a necessary connection between the visibility of a gift and its value in his eyes.
Are we certain that the gifts we count as most important are the ones that God counts as most important? Do we know that a gift for preaching is more important than a gift of encouragement? Are we certain that the man who preaches before tens of thousands of strangers in a conference venue ranks higher than the woman who intercedes for mere tens or hundreds from the privacy of her home? Are we certain that the one who leads the church in worship is really far ahead of the one who prepares the church by shoveling its sidewalks and setting up its chairs? That the one who labors in the pulpit is doing more important work than the one who labors in her prayer closet?
Jesus told us to be like little children, not like great celebrities. He didn’t tell us to be famous, but to be faithful, not to revel in the applause of men but to long for the affirmation of God. Our responsibility is to exercise the gifts and embrace the duties God has given us, no matter what they are, no matter how public, no matter how visible. We have no business wishing away the gifts God has given to us and no business envying the gifts he has given to someone else. We are to labor with diligence and entrust it all to God.
I am convinced that if there are some who receive a particularly great reward, it will be those who were most faithful with what they were given, whether it was much or little, visible or invisible, acknowledged by others or completely overlooked. The man who lived a life of quiet faithfulness in the humblest of jobs will surely receive God’s commendation ahead of many of those who wore fine vestments and who stood in ornate pulpits. The woman who served with excellence in an invisible ministry will surely be acknowledged ahead of the one who brought mediocrity to the most visible.
The fact is, there is no reason at all to think that the foremost preachers or most famous theologians will be received most joyfully in heaven, for God measures these things so differently from the way we do. In his eyes it’s not the visibility of the gift that matters, but the diligence with which it is embraced and exercised. And this puts the onus on each of us to ask how and where God has called us to serve his purposes, then to serve then and there in his strength and for his glory, joyfully entrusting it all to him.

The beginning of a new month is a great time to take a few moments to ponder this: Right now, at this very moment, God is reigning from his throne.

ChurchSource is having its semi-annual sale which means books like Seasons of Sorrow are deeply discounted. It’s also a good time to place a bulk order for any of the books they offer.
Richard Dawkins asks an important question and here is my answer
Murray Campbell takes on an important question from Richard Dawkins.
David Livingstone, Slavery Abolitionist
Vance Christie, who has just written a fantastic biography of David Livingstone, tells how Livingstone made a substantial contribution to the abolition of slavery.
Systematic Theology from Every Perspective
Petrus Van Mastricht’s four-part theological method—exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic (apologetic), and practical—helps pastors and laymen alike understand the deep things of God. (Sponsored Link)
Mercy on Maui: Hawaiian Churches Lament and Serve
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra asked pastors on Maui how they responded to the Lahaina fire, what they preached, and what spiritual response they have witnessed.
Death of the Innocents
“Three different women. Three very different public responses.” Matthew Hosier looks at three recent cases of infanticide and considers the different responses to them.
We need encouragement in sermons, not only challenge
This is a timely word about a “danger we [preachers] must avoid: always being negative and telling people how they are doing everything wrong. Some preachers fall into a pattern of constantly pointing out the sin of those listening and failing to encourage those who need encouraging.”
Are You Overlooking Christ’s Worth?
“In 20 years of pastoral ministry, I’ve noticed a regularly overlooked emphasis for many Christians. And this emphasis is so important, so valuable, that if adopted, I think it could drastically affect your life. I know this firsthand. I’ve seen it happen and watched it in many others walking that narrow path toward Immanuel’s land. Intrigued?”
Flashback: Moments With My Father (and My Son)
The delight that flashed in his eyes, the smile that broke over his face, the tears that glimmered in his eyes, all point me to a time in the future when what is broken will be made whole, when what is sorrowful will be soothed, when what has been torn apart will be stitched back together, a time when son and father and father and son will be reunited, never more to part, never more to grieve.

I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need. —Charles Spurgeon