Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: White (10/29/09)
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TITLE: A Way With Words | Previous Challenge Entry
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11/03/09 -
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But no one was even paying attention, and it occurred to me that no one knew. Well, I wasn’t going to speak up. I mean, what would people think, right? So, every Wednesday, I showed up for my middle school class at church, went through the motions and kept my fingers crossed that the pastor would not call on me to read.
You see, the only thing between the covers of my Bible were plain, white pages. No letters, no numbers, no words--not even pictures. Nothing. Just white on white on white. Empty of scripture and everything else.
I thought I might be losing it. How come I couldn’t see the print? I started opening up every Bible I saw. And you will never believe this--they were all like mine. White. Only blank pages. No scripture, no teachings, no commandments, no Word of God anywhere. As far as I was concerned, it had all just disappeared.
At one time, I did see the words and I believed them. I prayed with my mom and dad and talked about my faith often. But then I got a little older, and I started to see other things--cool things that other kids had and other kids did. I thought I could walk the line. You know, keep life interesting and keep God in my back pocket. I really wouldn’t be hurting anyone. I could keep up with the crowd and lose nothing.
It’s crazy how you can see things one way, when really they are totally different. Let’s just say I had gotten involved in some extra-curricular activities and was able to put a pretty neat spin on them all. I was listening to artistic music (hearing the wrong messages), watching educational movies (seeing sex and violence on the big screen), being creative at school (cheating), using my imagination at home (lying), enjoying social events (partying with the wrong crowd) and expanding my vocabulary (swearing). By now, the pages of my Bible were a white-out, and I had wandered so far off the path that I didn’t recognize myself anymore, let alone see God. Until the day I got caught (saved).
After too many lies, broken curfews and bad grades, my parents told me I was at the end of the line with this new approach I had taken. I sat there listening to them ground me for weeks and ask me how I could show so little respect for myself, for them and for God. And I felt pretty stupid. But I also kind of felt relieved that the game was up. None of that stuff was that cool if it took that much work just to get into this much trouble.
Up in my room that day, I sat, not knowing what to do next. I was clearly off track, but maybe there was hope? Before I put God on hold, things hadn’t been that bad. I took my Bible off the shelf and held it in my hands, said a little prayer and told God I was sorry. And I really meant it--for real. I took a deep breath, and opened it. And wouldn’t you know, it wasn't just plain white anymore. Right there on the page was His Word. His Truth was in front of me again.
So I read it. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
Looked pretty cool to me.
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