I told him I could not give him any money, but I would come to visit him once a week, while he was incarcerated. He was in jail for illegal possession of drugs. He had been there before. This time, he had contemplated ending it all. The voices in his head were telling him he was going to hell anyway. He hit rock bottom. He quit a good job, was in a terrible relationship, no place to lay his head and owed fines and thousands of dollars of back child support.
Why was I sitting in front of him , looking through the glass, waiting for him to punch in the code so we could talk to each other over the phone? Never in my life had I done anything like this before. What would I say to this broken, unshaven, scrubby looking young man in his grungy, gray striped, prison garb?
I was in front of him, mind racing with thoughts, hoping to choose the words he needed to hear. I was there because of the four words I said when I spoke at his mother's memorial service a few months back. She had fought cancer and lost. She was his strength. Guilt, grief, and the fear of being alone were consuming him as he sat on the second row of the church's auditorium. As I spoke, he doubled over from his weeping. He could not sit up, although by his body language I could tell he was holding on to every word I said. The last four words that came from my mouth were, "Don't you give up".
I had heard he was in jail for having drugs on him. It was confirmed when his dad pulled me over at church service one Sunday morning. He asked if I could go see his son in jail. He said his son remembered my telling him, "Don't you give up" and he was almost ready to give up and needed help. Without thinking or hesitating, I said that I would go see him the next week.
Now waiting for him to begin the conversation, the first words out of his mouth were, "I remember you told me not to give up. I need help and I do not know what to do." Well, the words came. He was desperate and afraid. He had contemplated suicide, because of the thoughts and voices inside his head. Two of his friends had already found the bottom. They listened to the voices, giving up on living that kind of life anymore, with no hope in sight, they took there own lives.
I will get into his process of healing in another post and it will be in my book.
I asked him, "What do you need me to do for you?". He responded, "I need you to show me the hope of getting my life back". So the work began. Five months have past since that day. The shaking from drug withdrawal has stopped. His thinking is clear and I helped him to identify his purpose in life. The chief at the jail said he was a very good prisoner.
I make a point to visit him once a week. He is a brother in Christ. He loves me and I love him. The love from God and me is bringing him back to the place he needs to be. This reminds me of a verse in 1Corinthians 13:8...Love never fails.
This young man knows that God and I love him. The one action I had given him and didn't realize it was my time. He said he knew I wanted to help him, because I gave him some of my time one day every week. He knew I had been very busy, but cared enough to visit him for 30 minutes every Thursday.
So the time we use to show our love in action is really a strong companion alongside our love. This person put a great value on my time with him. I never even thought about it that way.
How do we place a value on the amount of time we spend showing our love to someone or God. At the most, I probably have another 35 years to live. This time span could be shortened by an accident or sudden illness. I do not know when my time on earth will be over, but if the doctor says I have cancer with only a few weeks to live, the value of my time just went up.
I just recently had a cousin to die from cancer. We are the same age. His last trip to the doctor approximated his death within a few days instead of several years. I had been trying for several years to get him to obey the gospel. That window of opportunity was shortened and every hour was used. First, he called me when he was on his way home, telling me the bad news. He said, "I want to go to heaven". His time to act, which was actually 13 days, was very valuable to him now. I think he put off living a fruitful life for God knowing he had plenty of time. Having plenty of time sometimes devalues that time. The knowledge of his limited time to live, increased the value of this time above all of his assets. You see, he was very rich with farmland, cash, investments, vehicles and a large beautiful house. His time was of the most value now. His soul's destiny in a few days would be decided, so he wisely did what he needed to do. He had wealth on earth, but it was of not profitable to him at death. (Matthew 16:26) He made the right decision.
He obeyed the gospel in front of his best friends. I baptized him into Christ and he spent the next few days telling as many people as he could he loved them. Most of us do not know the time we have left and those that do, value their time more than the land they own or the investments they have.
So I can understand this young man in jail, thanking me for showing him love and using my time for him. My time was a companion to the love I was showing him.
Who do you give your time to? Is your time more valuable to you or to your loved ones around you? Let's make our time a companion to the love we share with others.
We say we love God, but how do we spend our time with Him and how often? In my book, The Heart Behind The Stone, David valued his time with God and that time spent was not only a value to him, but to all of the armies of Israel. He used his time with God at an early age. In doing so, he was preparing to defeat a giant he had never heard of.
You and I cannot defeat our giants unless we show God our love by the time we spend with Him.
Please go to http://amzn.to/1Mi2AXW to preview and purchase The Heart Behind The Stone and go to http://amzn.to/2lMuCFx to purchase 123 Tips for My Grandchildren and Yours. Spend some time reading to your children or grandchildren. That time spent may make a difference in their lives and yours.
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Thank you for reading and helping me out.
Rick Hepler
