Do you know which is the bestselling book of all time?
Best selling. Most recognizable. Most quoted.
Of course, it’s the Bible.
I could have said “least applied” but that would be kind of snarky.
Ok, maybe that would be a lot snarky.
Sorry about that.
This post is not about THE BIBLE in general, but about a specific Bible in particular.
About a month ago, I lost my “preaching” Bible.
It’s not like I don’t have dozens of other ones to choose from.
But this one is the one I have been using on the Sundays that I preach somewhere for over 20 years. It goes all the way back to my last few years as a pastor (which ended in 2008).
I bought this particular Bible when my previous preaching Bible (purchased in 1988) apparently got left in the dryer and the print got smaller.
That’s got to be it, right?
So, for 20 years, I’ve been marking this one up. Underlining, circling, highlighting, writing in the margins. And filling it with post-it notes with quotes and ideas and journaled thoughts.
No matter where I may be, I have this Bible filled with the fruit of years of study.
The Friday before Thanksgiving, Mrs. Sweetie and I were heading to the panhandle to visit our kids and grands. I was scheduled to preach that particular Sunday for a special celebration of the pastor’s 20th anniversary at the church, so I had to pack everything necessary for for Sunday to make a quick drive back from Amarillo to preach and then head back to spend Thanksgiving week.
I couldn’t find my preaching Bible anywhere.
I looked in every room and every vehicle.
Nothing.
So I grabbed my new Bible (the one with even bigger print) and packed it for the trip. It was incredibly frustrating because my missing Bible contained the notes for what I intended to say at the anniversary celebration.
Between Friday and Sunday, I prayed and thought through what else I might say. The sermon ended up going a completely different direction from my original plan, and I told the church about my lost Bible.
Three different people told me after the service that they thought God actually hid my Bible from me so I would say what I said on that day. They said the message could not have been more perfect.
Yay, God! (Except for the hiding my Bible part—which I don’t believe was actually the case).
It’s too late to make a long story short, but I got my Bible back on December 10.
I had to drive to the Tyler area to pick it up from where I had left it when I stayed there for a three day meeting the first week in November (I had not preached on a Sunday since then).
What a relief!
But here’s what I’m thinking about today. If I had never gotten my Bible back, I would have been sad, but I wouldn’t have had to give up preaching or teaching people what I have learned over more than 50 years of following Jesus.
And I wouldn’t have stopped learning, because I’ve still got so much more to learn.
The most amazing part of the journey of faith is not in what we’ve already learned and experienced, but it what remains to be discovered as we keep going.
I pray that this Christmas season is a time for renewing our passion for what we can discover next and realizing that God is not—nor has He ever been—lost.
Be amazing today, my friend.
