Saturday, April 9
The Life and Challenges of a Long-Ago Christian, Part 6
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation. —2 Corinthians 10:7a
Zeno Speaks
Tullio’s Repair Shop, 63 AD
When the storm finally died down, the ship was a wreck, but we were alive. There was nothing to be happy about though. I had lost my friend and betrayed my faith. I made a few trips with the Shark, but I was no seaman. I came ashore at a town where I was a stranger, banked my back pay, and set about looking for work. The first shop I went into was Tullio’s Fine Furniture Repair Shop. A beautiful girl met me at the door. The shop was closed, she told me; her father had just had an accident and could not work. I told her I was a carpenter and asked if I could help. There was an important job due to be finished that day. I was able to step in and do it. So Tullio got paid. Now, Tullio needed an assistant, and I needed a job and a room. What could be better? I moved in that day. It was a happy time. I enjoyed the work repairing fine old furniture and making new pieces. I loved getting to know Tullio’s daughter Priscilla, who was as good as she was beautiful. She and her father were Christians. They belonged to a church which met in the house of their friend Jason. When she asked me to go with them, I had to confess I had been a Christian but had broken faith. Priscilla convinced me that I could be forgiven, and I began attending meetings. The church family was friendly and accepting. We were at home there. One morning we received bad news. Jason had borrowed money to help needy friends and could not repay it. He had been seized and sent to the slave market to be sold. Priscilla was distraught, but I remembered my back pay money. We could use it to save Jason, I told her. We rushed to the bank and then the slave market where Jason was being held.
Guide us, Lord, as we review each day’s experiences. Let us recognize and rejoice at the good, and acknowledge and repent our failings. Amen.
Guy Johnson