I remember from my early years living in Folly Mountain, there were three books in our home:  The Bible, and the Simpson Sears and Eaton’s Catalogues.  Mother did all her shopping by catalogue.

 

One minister’s wife told me that she and her husband were visiting in a home one day and it was his practice to read a scripture and pray before leaving.  He asked if they had a Bible handy and a little boy said, “Yes”, and, “I know where it is.”

 

He went to get it and came back with the Eaton’s catalogue.  The catalogue was what his mother was always looking at, so he thought it was the Bible.  The mother was very embarrassed.

 

And then there is the story of the Kindergarten teacher, who asked a child to name some things to be found in the Bible.  “Well,” she replied, “there are some pressed flowers, a lock of mother’s hair when she was a little girl, some clippings from old newspapers, some of mother’s recipes, and a page with all of our birthdays.”  How unfortunate it is that in some homes all the Bible seems useful for is to store things!

 

The story is told of an old man who put money between the pages of his Bible for safekeeping.  One night robbers broke into his home and ransacked it from top to bottom.  They pulled out all the bureau drawers, poked around in all the cupboards, lifted up the carpets, and looked behind the pictures, but they didn’t find his money.  It never occurred to them to look in the Bible on the living-room table.

 

What’s in your Bible?