"I just want you to get me a Bible"

How many Bibles do you have? A quick survey through the bookcase in my office turned up more than 20. I can find almost any version I want on the Internet. And if I every need a new one, I can pick one up at dozens of stores here in town.That’s not true for everyone. It’s not true for people who live in many other countries. My friend Tony Fernández, Herald of Truth representative in Cuba, tells this story:

Other drivers had signaled to me that there was a police checkpoint on one of the bridges. Sure enough, while I was still far away, one policeman began to wave me over. I quickly gathered up the documents that I would need to show him, but the officer said, “Please, put away your papers. I just want you to get me a Bible. That’s my life’s dream, but I’ve never been able to get one.”Sadly, I didn’t have one with me, but I told him how to hear the radio program (Lea La Biblia / Read The Bible) and gave him our mailing address so that he could write in.Every day I’m more impressed by the spiritual hunger of our people. I never imagined that stories like this would happen to me: an on-duty policeman asking me for a Bible. Incredible.

Yes, incredible indeed. In a Bible-rich country like ours, it’s especially hard to imagine a scene like that.Just a few thoughts:

• The fact that we have Bibles doesn’t mean that we read them. Don’t neglect what you have!
• How do our life’s dreams compare with those of this man, who only dreamed of being able to have a Bible?
• God is at work in many places around the world. Even as some societies seem to be moving away from Him, others move toward Him.
• Pray for workers like Tony that choose to live in difficult situations because they see the good they can do.
• Give when you can to organizations like Herald of Truth that provide Bibles to people in places where God’s Word isn’t easy to obtain.