At the end of my alley, while on an early morning walk recently, I found a 1,600-page Bible. It was among odds and ends abandoned there, including toys. This was The Holy Bible Max Lucado General Editor The Devotional Bible, published in 2003 by Thomas Nelson Bibles. The perfectly intact Bible, save a tear on the first inside page, is one of those Bibles made to make reading it a true adventure in study and leaning. Its owner had obviously set out to assiduously put the Good Book to use because there are a lot of early markings in pencil at the beginning: Underlined was an imperative, Study the Bible a bit at a time and how do I obey? and where can I go? and after the asking and seeking comes the knocking. All are comments that Lucado makes at the opening. In the devotional index, the owner had bracketed a number of topics in pencil: authority, comfort, communication, Christlikeness, difficulties, disappointments, decisions, habits, guilt, failure, and letting go. Here and there are small scratchings indicating, perhaps, a passing interest in issues like self, prayer and lifestyle changes. And future. Can I be so presumptuous to believe the owner had some real burdens to deal with?Whoever abandoned the Bible gave up one of those five-star Bibles, a souped-up, 10-gallon, full-course scripture. Its the deluxe. Every page of scripture contains rich commentary broken down into situation, observation, inspiration and application related to the biblical text beside it. Much of it is new Lucado material, much of it is drawn from his massive published works or that of other writers. But it applies masterfully to the text. Under the application for the first chapter of the Book of Ruth, for example, it says, Think for a minute about the people in your world. What do they think of your commitment to them? How would they rate your faithfulness? Does your loyalty every waver? With whom are you a friend forever. Pray for that person(s) today.And so it goes. Whole special commentaries written about guilt, habits, healing, heaven. And power, righteousness, rivalry and salvation. So much more. Someone abandoned a dandy Bible, complete with a 30-day exercise of readings and questions to answer. Topics include getting to know a new friend and holy and clean and accountable to God.How and why did this sleek, black, hard-cover Bible end up in an alley in Tempe? Was it put there to be found, a spot chosen over tossing it immediately into the nearby Dumpster. By the looks of the Bible, Id say it never got that much reading.There is no name of the Bibles recipient, donor or date on the special first page of the Bible. Not a single shred of paper slipped between pages. Isnt every Bible stuffed with odd pieces of paper and keepsakes?I already have a large collection of Bibles on shelves all over the house and at work, and I am adding this forsaken one, the deluxe, to the shelves. Still I wonder about the prior owner and why such a great piece of work got left in the alley dust. Maybe it was left there for me, a stranger, to find and prize.

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