“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalms 119:105 NIV
One writing weekend away from home, I woke up at 8:30 am and switched on the TV to see what I was missing at home not having cable. I settled on a political news program about the anniversary of Katrina. After heating up my breakfast sandwich in the microwave, I turned on my computer anticipating a peaceful writing morning.
I started by reaching for the Gideon’s Bible in the hotel drawer.
I assumed it would be there, and it was.
I read a couple of Psalms, but my mind was distracted. Nothing really sunk it. As I sat there, I thought about the fact that I was reading a Bible in my hotel room placed there by the Gideons. I wasn’t reading any other religious book. I thought of all the rooms in the hotel and all the hotels in my town and all the hotels in other towns. All with Gideon Bibles…
I thanked God for the Gideons, grateful for their work in placing Bibles all over the world. I had purposefully left my Bible at home assuming there would be one for me to read in the hotel. And there was.
But what about next time? Years from now? Would there still be a Gideon Bible in my hotel room?
Since that day, I’ve found that most hotel rooms have the Gideon Bible tucked away in a drawer, mostly unused. But I did encounter one modern hotel without a Bible. It makes me sad to know years from now that could be the norm.
Now when I stay in a hotel and find a Bible, used or not, I thank God for His Word and for those who have given to the Gideons to make it possibly for people to have Bibles to read when they are away from home.
Lord, I pray that the work of the Gideons continues and that those who do not know God will catch a little glimpse of Him one night in their hotel room.