I Sold an Old Lady a Bible

I signed up with a company to sell books door-to-door one college summer, but I was a horrible salesman. Still, the memory of one old lady lingers.

Since I had my own car I was assigned an entire county about an hour’s drive from the central Tennessee town where four of us college guys stayed. I don’t remember the town where I was selling or the old lady’s name, but she lived on the ‘wrong side of the tracks.’

Her house needed paint and repair; her yard was mostly dirt with a few sprigs of grass. She sat practically motionless on her weathered-gray front porch overseeing her neighborhood. Eyes watched from a distance as I whipped out a shiny new Bible and my polished sales pitch.

The Bible had a special leather binding, special pages, special features...special everything. It cost twice what you would pay in a store, expensive for anyone and completely out of range for this lady. (Going through my sales spiel I remembered how we were taught to avoid poor folks; a waste of time. But I was there. Ugh.)

Then she said, “Yes.”

I was supposed to take a 50% deposit with the balance due upon delivery at the end of summer, but I accepted all that she had, $5.00.

The long summer passed and I received the books for delivery. As I drove to the old lady’s house, I decided that I would just give her the Bible. She had been so excited to place the order, but I KNEW that she wouldn’t be able to pay full price. I just could not disappoint her.

I drove up to her house and reasoned that there had been a lookout--word had spread quickly and a small crowd gathered at her front porch almost immediately. I approached with the new Bible while receiving kind greetings from both young and old. She was ready with the exact amount owed for the Bible, so I filled out a receipt and delivered the Bible. I have never seen anyone more grateful to receive a Bible.

As I got into my car and drove away the crowd continued to grow...all eyes fixed on that old lady and her new Bible. I don’t know how the story ended, but I quite imagine that it is unfinished still. I can see her in my mind pouring over the pages of God’s word. Perhaps she read it aloud to her grandchildren or to friends in her neighborhood. I would like to think that her Bible was handed down and gratefully received when she passed away, but I can only imagine. Yet, I am certain of her love for that book. I’m sure she appreciated all the special features, but she loved its content. She loved God’s word.

I wonder if my children will love God’s word like that. 

I wonder if my grandchildren will.

There was a time when virtually everybody wanted a copy of the Bible. Translations were few and copies expensive, yet printers could not keep up with the demand. Nowadays publishers use all sorts of marketing gimmicks to entice people to buy a Bible. Is it that Bibles are so cheap and so common that there is a loss of interest or is it rather that people have lost regard for the word of our eternal Creator?

What if I told you I made up this story?
Do you prefer my story or God’s word???

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of God stands forever.
—Isaiah 40:8

Are you eager to read God’s message?
Or, have you outgrown God’s word and prefer stories by clever writers?

Mark Stinnett