A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle; the minister frowned as he saw the man hadn’t shaved in a while. His shirt was kind a shabby and his coat was torn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head, then rose and walked away. In the days that followed, each noon time the chap came, each time he knelt for just a moment, a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister’s suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, he decided to stop the man and ask him, “What are you doing here?” The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time, for finding strength and power. “I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kind a what I say: “I just came to tell you, Lord, how happy I’ve been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sins. Don’t know much how to pray, but I think about you everyday. So, Jesus, this is Jim checking in today.”
The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man he was welcome to come and pray anytime. Time to go, Jim smiled, said “Thanks.” he hurried to the door. The minister knelt at the altar; he’d never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed by love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim’s prayer: “I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I’ve been, since we found each other’s friendship and you took away my sins. I don’t know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus this is me checking in today.”
Pass noon one day the minister noticed that old Jim hadn’t come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, but he had given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them, brought changes to the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious, changed people were his reward. The head nurse couldn’t understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse’s concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn. Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up with a winsome smile; “the nurse is wrong, she couldn’t know, that in here all the while every day at noon he’s here, a dear friend of mine, you see, he sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:
“I just came again to tell you, Jim, how happy I have been, since we found this friendship, and I took away your sins. I always love to hear you pray, I think about you each day, and so Jim, this is Jesus checking in today.”
Many people walk in and out of our lives but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. May God hold you in the palm of his hand and angels watch over you, for we are continually in his sight.
Isaiah 49:16
I do not know the author of this little story but I wanted to share it with you and hope that you will see that everyone has a chance to know Jesus and we should not be the judge of someone just by the clothes they wear or the color of their skin or what nationality they are because Jesus loves everyone and He wants us all to go to heaven. Today is the day that the Lord has made and we should try to hold each other up in prayer. Let’s agree together that when Ol Jim comes to us we will embrace him and show as much love for him as our heavenly father does.
