The Stolen Bible
Good News –October 2016 – Grace & Truth Magazine
The Stolen Bible
Mary’s Bible was special to her. It was a gift of her mother who had passed away, and because of this Mary loved that Bible more than any other. She had used it for a long time; there were so many passages and chapters marked, and other favorite places, that it would seem to open of itself to these. More than all, she had read much of the Bible to her Sunday school class and many had been brought to accept its truth. It seemed to her a special blessing went with it.
Now someone had stolen it! A reward of several times its value was offered, but no one brought it back. Bad and rough as some in her class were, she could not think that one would steal her Bible. But it was gone, and she breathed a prayer that it would bless the one into whose hands it might fall.
A war came, and Mary became a nurse in a military hospital. After a terrible battle many wounded and dying men were brought into that hospital. As Mary passed among them she came to one who recognized her, but she did not know him. He told her his name and said, “I am the boy who stole your Bible. I did it just for fun. But when you told us how you loved it, I almost choked. I’d have given anything if I had not taken it; but I was too proud to own what I had done. Then I thought if I brought it back it would seem as if I were doing it for the reward. Pretty soon I went away. I grew to be very wicked, but I kept the Bible, thinking that some time I could send it to you and you wouldn’t know I took it. Soon I enlisted. I’ve been through everything in three years. I was counted brave, sent on dangerous missions and taken prisoner. Having escaped, I was starved when I got back to our lines.
“All the time that Bible worried me. I felt mean to let any man call me brave while I kept it. I tried to find where you were, but then I began to look in that Bible. Sometimes when I opened it I turned to the Commandments and it almost flashed back into my face: ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ Then it would open to the Lord’s Prayer or to the verses such as: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart,’ ‘Ask and ye shall receive,’ ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you.’ Every time I took it out, it preached a sermon and made me uneasy. Once I thought I would burn it, but I saw that would not satisfy. I knew I would never be happy again unless I confessed my fault and restored the Book.
“As I could not find you I thought I would tell my captain. I told him I thought it was mean for me to pass myself off for an honest man while I had that stolen Bible. The captain was rough, not believing in religion. He just laughed, saying I did a shabby trick to take it, but it was not any better than any other book. I knew better than that and read it more than ever. Soon I began praying to the Lord Jesus owning all my sins and asking for forgiveness. He heard me. Then I prayed for the captain.
“Yesterday when I was shot, he came to me and said he couldn’t lose me. I told him to get that Bible out of my pocket – you see both my hands were shot off. He promised to take care of it and, if he could ever find you, to tell you all about it and give it back to you. He had to go back into the fight, but the Lord will lead him as He did me. He will find those same passages. God bless him.” With that prayer the soldier breathed his last.
Years passed. Mary, back in her hometown, was working and praying for the street youths. In answer to prayer many were moved by the story of the dying soldier and the Bible.
One Sunday an evangelist known as the “Colonel” came to that city and addressed the children where Mary taught. He told the simple story of his conversion, saying it was owing to a soldier and his Bible. He took from his pocket a bullet-torn and bloodstained book and related the above history. “Young people, that soldier’s prayer and this Bible led me from being a wicked, rough man to a humble believer and a worker for the Lord. They have been the means of bringing more lives to Christ than all my preaching. I have never been able to find the owner of this Bible, though her name is plainly written here: Mary.” At that many, unable to restrain themselves, cried out, “Here she is! It’s her Bible! She told us all about it.”
Mary thanked God for what it had already done, and she breathed a prayer that its blessed work might never end. We can tell you how the Bible can change your life for eternity, just like it did for the men in this story.
Adapted from the May 1951 Grace & Truth Magazine