If you are a balcony sitter and lost your glasses case, I think I know where it is. Check the Lost and Found bin in Heritage Hall.

And to the person who lost their well-worn ESV Bible, it is there, as well.

And to that person who lost their Bible, no scold implied.  In fact, thank you.  Thank you, anonymous Bible reader for the example you have set.

I found the glasses case on one of my rounds of the church and took it to the Lost and Found bin in hopes that it might be reunited with its owner.  That’s when I saw the Bible, alone at the bottom of the bin.  Apparently lost by its owner and found by some Good Samaritan, it, too, had been taken to Heritage Hall in anticipation of a happy ending to its left behind ordeal.

All of us make trips to the Lost and Found from time to time.  We lose jackets and umbrellas, diamond rings and old eye glass cases. And sometimes Bibles are left behind.  That’s just the way things are.

When I found the Bible alone at the bottom of the bin, I checked for a name inside the cover or even printed on a dedication page but found none.  Temporarily lost, this Bible had not been neglected or abandoned.  It had been used.  It had been places.  It had been read.  Nothing better than a Bible a bit frayed at the edges, old sermon notes or Bible study handouts stuffed between pages. Way to go, anonymous Bible user.

I wonder what my Bible left behind some Sunday might say about me.  Would frayed edges and curled pages tell the story of being well-used, or would a stiff spine and crisp pages betray my infrequent reading of the Word?

And device users, if your smart phone is like mine, one of the settings tells me which apps are used most frequently.  Does your Bible app use more battery life than your social media apps?

Since the Word is a lamp unto our feet, then we do well to light the lamp as we travel through our dark world.

If your battered and worn old ESV Bible was recently left behind, check the Lost and Found bin in Heritage Hall.  And, whoever you are, thanks for reminding us how all our Bibles ought to look. Battered and worn is exactly right.

See you Sunday