Freddie wished he had a Bible of his own. “Tom has a Bible,” he said to his grandmother. “Linda has one, too, and they carry their Bibles to Sunday School. They take turns reading verses in class, but I can’t.”
“But you can’t read,” said Grandmother. “You couldn’t read a Bible if you had one.”
“I think I could,” said the little fellow. “I’m learning to read, you know; let me try.”
Grandma took her Bible and opened it to Psalm 1. Freddie looked at it and then shook his head. He couldn’t read a word.
But he studied hard at school. Every day he could read a few more words and Grandma taught him some words at home.
One day Freddie read the whole Psalm to his grandmother without one mistake. Quickly Grandmother opened a drawer and took out a beautiful little Bible.
“It is yours, Freddie,” she said; then on the very first page she wrote, “Freddie Thompson.”
Freddie was thrilled. He read his Bible before he went to bed that night. He read it when he got up in the morning. He took it to Sunday school and took his turn reading in class. He took his Bible with him wherever he went.
One day Freddie took his Bible with him when he went shopping with his grandmother. He was so interested in all the things there were to see, and in the crowds that thronged the stores, that he forgot all about his Bible. They were on their way home when he discovered his tiny Bible was not in his pocket. He began to cry, so Grandmother took him back to the stores to look for his lost treasure. But they couldn’t find it.
For a whole year Freddie looked, but in vain; then one day a gospel preacher visited his grandmother.
“Freddie,” he said, “I saw your Bible a few days ago. An old lady has it. She is dying and sent for me. For many years she had lived without God, but about a year ago, when she was shopping in a store, she saw a little book on the floor. She picked it up and took it home.
She read about the Lord Jesus, and He spoke to her heart through His Word. Gently He drew her to Himself and at last she claimed Him as her own Saviour. Now her life is changed. She showed me the Book, and there on the first page was your name. Soon she will be leaving this world and go to be with that blessed One who saved her. She would like to keep the Bible until then. Do you mind if she does, Freddie?”
“Oh, of course not!” said Freddie, “Just think, if I hadn’t lost my Bible, perhaps she never would have been saved.”
ML-10/31/1976