Thought for the month
“Do you want to come to church today?” I was asked.
“No, not really. I have other things to do.”
“Like what?” came back the question.
“Oh, clean the car, cut the grass, go to the allotment....”
“Why don’t you come and support your children and see what they have been doing in Holiday Club?”
“Church is not for me, so no, thanks. You take them and tell me later all about it.”
Yes, I did feel guilty, but didn’t let it show.Church, as far as I was concerned, was fine for women and children, but not for men, even though I had attended Sunday School.The question was asked week after week as my children went to Sunday School and Tina to church.
Then one day, Tina came home from a meeting in Chelmsford to which the ladies from church had invited her. She told me she had found Jesus and asked him to be her Saviour. “Very nice,” I replied, or something like that.
Days went by, and she looked different. I mean she had a glow to her, and she seemed to be at ease with everything.The question of church came up again and again. After a long while, maybe a year later, after another Holiday Club, I said okay, I would come just this time.I must admit I felt very out of place at first, but the people there made me very welcome. When the minister preached, it seemed as if he was speaking directly to me!
To cut a long story short, Tina said she was going to be baptised and asked if I would come. Point blank, I said “no!” To this day, I still don’t know why, but on that Sunday I was elsewhere, until I had a strange feeling that I should be in church supporting her. I went along and arrived just as she was going into the water to be baptised. In my dirty old working clothes, I was made so welcome again. I saw church in a different light. Yes, I did go Sunday by Sunday, and every week the message seemed just right for me.
The rest is history. I did ask Jesus to be my Saviour. I did get baptised. And my life changed for the better. Sometimes, looking from the outside, it’s very hard to know what is right. Maybe you have picked up this magazine, but don’t come to the church on a Sunday. You may think, like I did, that church is not for you.
Take it from me, come and look and listen. Don’t judge from the outside as I did, because you won’t find the truth just from looking in at a distance. It doesn’t matter what you look like, you will not be judged, you will be made welcome. Maybe this Sunday, if asked to come to church, your reply will not be “no,” but “okay, I will.” Jesus said he ‘came to seek and to save what was lost.’ He has – and he does. Jesus died for you, don’t shut him out. He is waiting, because today is the day of salvation.
Warwick
