Some time back, after a Sunday Church Worship, as I relaxed at home, there was a phone call and the caller asked whether we would be at home in the evening as she wanted to come over to our house for prayers. Her daughter had been married for 10 years but had no children.
They came at around 5 pm and after the initial talks, my wife escorted the lady and her daughter to an inner room for prayers. I was left with the son of the woman who had brought the women from home in their jeep.
We started conversing and the topic was about ‘construction’ as he was a ‘contractor’. He spoke eloquently about all aspects of his occupation and his life in general without touching one aspect of his life-The Spiritual. And the Holy Spirit was prompting me to touch upon that part of his life. I waited for the right moment and then asked him which Church he attended. He said that he was a member of a main line denominational church but never actually attended church. When I asked him why, he said he didn't see any point in attending church because people just came there to show off their flashy clothes and new cars; no one really cared about calling upon God. Moreover, he said, “When I stand in Church, if at all I go, I am surrounded by rivals in business who are plotting my downfall and I theirs." When I asked whether his wife went to church, he said, “Yes, but she just hangs around outside the church to catch up with the things that she missed from her friends in the past week.”
Of course, he believed in God, he retorted in self defense when I put that question to him. It’s just that I don’t have any time, he sighed!
When I asked whether he had read the Bible recently, he just shook his head in the negative. Family prayers had become something of a routine though, he added, because excessive crying of his child for one and a half years had made someone comment that God was mad at him. Still they were careful, he added, to adjust the timings of the family prayer so as to not miss important serials on TV.
So what do you think about life after death? I asked finally. I've just not thought about that, he said and he had a surprised look on his face which said, “Who’s this fellow and what’s this trap that I have fallen into, on a quiet Sunday evening?”
I took some time to explain to him the “Gospel” and he seemed to be genuinely interested or so I thought. After a while of my preaching, he suddenly asked, “OK, Tell me where do I start?”
And I told him the basics- Accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior, Pray to God, Read the Bible, Worship in spirit and in truth….
He seemed to be lost in thoughts for a while and then said, “I just don’t know, you see I’m so busy, maybe after all my present projects are complete, I’ll give it a try."
After Thought- Some people are too busy to even think about God.
The Bible advises,
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
