U TURNS
"Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next
Sunday, Uncle Al."
Tim and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake.
They had heard the
fishing there was great. "I . . . I don't want to
hurt your feelings,"
continued Tim, "but . . . well . . . I'm not sure
I want to get into
this religious stuff. Besides, Mom and Dad don't think
it's a good idea."
"Oh?" asked Uncle Al in surprise. "I thought you said
that your parents
wouldn't mind if you went with me. You sounded quite
interested last
week. You even said the Gospel was beginning to make
sense to you."
"Yeah, but since then I've done a lot of thinking,"
Tim said slowly. "I
don't think I feel like getting 'saved' right now.
The crowd I hang
around with at school wouldn't understand, and I like
being with them.
Someday I'll start going to church, but I think I'll
just go on the way
I am for a while. I know I'm not perfect, but I'm
not so bad, either."
Tim's uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. "Oh,
no!" he exclaimed
as they passed a road sign. "I was so intent on our
conversation that I
missed the turnoff! We should have gotten off this
road five miles back!"
"Guess we'll have to turn around and go back now,
huh?" asked Tim.
But Uncle Al shook his head. "I don't feel like turning
around right
now," he said. "I guess we'll just keep going this
way. I kind of like
this road, and the scenery is nice."
Tim looked at his uncle in amazement. "But we have
to turn around to get
to Bonny Lake," he protested, "and the longer we keep
going this way,
the longer it will take to get back. If we wait too
long to turn around,
we might not even get there in time to fish."
Uncle Al smiled at Tim as he slowed down for the next
turn. "You're
right," he said, "and what you said just now is exactly
what I've been
trying to tell you about spiritual life . . . that
when you're traveling
down the wrong road, the sooner you turn around, the
better. If you wait
too long, you might never get to your goal: Heaven."
