It may seem like an ancient relic today, but not too many years ago people in all kinds of trades and vocations found a slide rule to be indispensable. This ingenious instrument was used to make complex mathematic computations quickly.

Dr. Burt Nanus recalls that on his first day in engineering school in 1953, a professor advised the entering freshmen to buy the best slide rule they could afford. The professor told them, “You will be dependent on it all your professional life.” Nanus dutifully bought a slide rule. Yet after he graduated and went on to MIT, he never used it. The calculator had taken its place.

Things that today we consider indispensable may quickly become obsolete. Tomorrow they may be discarded as relics that cannot provide the help we need. But at least one thing from the ancient past will always be needed and never become obsolete. It is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. No matter how much technological change and progress takes place, that Book will remain the one sure means for getting the right answers to the complicated questions of our origin, our purpose, our behavior, and our ultimate destination.

So keep a Bible handy. You’ll always need it.

  — Vernon C. Grounds