One of the changes we made when we redesigned The Lookout was to reduce the overall size of the publication. I explained our reasons for the change in an editorial I wrote last fall. 

We designed this new edition of The Lookout to fit neatly alongside your Bible so you can easily carry them together each week from your home to your class or small group. This convenient size will allow you to keep them together at home as well, using The Lookout as a companion tool for your daily quiet time.

I elaborated on the strategy in another editorial.

To enhance our expanded Bible study and daily quiet time sections, we’re adding two additional features: a place to record prayer concerns and space for personal journaling. We believe this will increase The Lookout’s value in two ways. First, it will provide helpful resources for your daily walk with God. Second, it will allow you to create a spiritual legacy for your children and grandchildren. As you record your insights and study notes, list the needs you pray about from week to week, and document your journey in discipleship, you’ll be compiling a personal spiritual history that will challenge generations of your family to follow in your footsteps as disciples of Christ.

With our recent redesign still fresh on my mind, I was delighted to read a parallel perspective written by author and blogger Tim Challies (challies.com) in an April 18, 2018 blog he titled, “The Best Argument for Using a Printed Bible.” Portions of the blog are reprinted here with his permission.

Challies has been engaged in a church history project that has taken him around the world. As part of his research, he visited several historic sites and sifted through the books and original writings of many well-known Christians. Here are two examples from his experience.

George Müller, 18^th Century Prayer Warrior

A couple of weeks ago I visited Müller House in Bristol, England. Among their collection is one of George Müller’s Bibles. It is heavily annotated, especially in the section between the Old Testament and the New Testament where he appears to have sketched out a sermon. There was something about reading his Bible that was moving, especially as I read James 1:27, a verse that must have been very precious to him.

William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions

During that trip to England, and in preparation for a trip to India, I spent some time in one of Oxford University’s libraries that houses some of William Carey’s effects. And, sure enough, they have one of his Bibles stored in a box made from his cobbler’s workbench. This was the Bible he studied in his younger days as he learned to understand and preach the Word. It was especially interesting to see which sections showed evidence of heavy use and which did not.

Challies concluded his blog with these observations.

So what’s the argument for continuing to use a printed Bible? It allows you to leave behind a tangible link to your faith. When you have run your race and received your reward, your Bible will live on as a testimony to your interests, to your character, and ultimately, to your Christian profession. I’ve been reminded just how precious these old Bibles are. It has been an honor to see them and has made me consider the beauty and the value of leaving them behind. That’s something I just can’t do with my app and my tablet.

We pray that as you use The Lookout as a companion to your Bible and a tool for personal growth and discipleship, it will also become a legacy of faith to pass on to future generations.