Truth Covered in Green

The Gideons were out today. They were handing out their little Bibles wrapped in green pleather. I spotted them right as I got off the bus at 15th and Campus Parkway. There were three of them- all smiling, all holding about ten Bibles, and next to them was a box filled to the top with more. One man who was passing them out to the crowd that was hurriedly fleeing the humanity-packed-public-transportation-vehicle, called out, “A free gift for you!” I grinned and accepted one as I walked by.

After doing my devotions earlier this morning, I had made up my mind that this was going to be a good day; yesterday was a little rough. Seeing these fellow Christians handing out the greatest gift that one can give to another definitely put an extra, little skip in my step.

I climbed the stairs to the bridge that straddles 15th and transports its pedestrians onto campus; it reminds me of the bridges in Candyland- you know, the ones that enable you to cut straight to the Gum Drop Mountain if you land on the green square. Anyways, I was being raptured from this world to the world of academics when something hit me. Holding my new Bible, as I shuffled past the horde of students moving across the bridge, I thought about how many brilliant minds, on just this single day, passed by this solitary thing that is the manifestation of Truth itself- this one Book. I thought about all the students and all the professors on campus searching, blindly, for such Truth and could be for the rest of their lives, when here it is. That which they are seeking is right in front of them- being passed out for FREE by a bunch of middle-aged, uneducated men all over school property, and yet they are just too blind to see it and too proud to admit it. How ironic…

Allow me for a moment to step out of my reverie: I just realized how sad this sounds, but that is not all I thought about. I think if I would have lingered on such depressing thoughts, my stubborn resolve to have a good day would have been ruined. However, perhaps in order to preserve my mood, I moved on to think about more uplifting things.

I clutched the small Book that I was given and thanked God. I thought about how many people would give all their possessions in order to possess this one Book. I thought about how blessed we are to live in a country that allows men to stand on corners and pass out the Truth. I thought about how blessed we are that we live in an economy that allows for free distribution of such vital information. The fact that they are able to give them out for free is a blessing in of itself- not many countries could afford such a gift. I wondered how many Bibles they would give out today. I wondered how many people that received one would actually read it.

As I write this, I realize that I never took the time to stop and pray for those people that accepted one. Is it too assertive to ask anyone who reads this to pray for those people today? And also, while you're at it, pray for those who are seeking the truth; pray that their eyes will open and their knees will bend and thank God for those who were willing to stand in the cold and hand out the gift of Truth for free.

Today was a good day.