I met a 19-year-old boy in November 2018, when he came for his wound dressing. For the purpose of this article, let’s call him Carlos.
I had never met Carlos before, that was my first time. I asked how he got the wound he came to dress and how long it had been. I also asked if he was saved, then he replied that he used to be saved. And even then, he wasn’t sure if he was genuinely saved.
I smiled and wondered what he meant, we talked about his family and friends. He mentioned some of his friends and why he loved them. As a matter of fact, he had friends who encouraged him to do more for God. We would have exchanged contacts if he didn’t leave his phone at home that day. After that day, I could not talk to him until the 22nd of December 2018.
When he came by for dressing, we continued our discussion from where we pinned it, and he asked me the question, “how do I cope as a Christian?”
That question threw me off my feet, I understood that he felt I was not real with him when I told him he has to trust the Holy Spirit if he wants to have a relationship with God.
A few days ago, I did his dressing, and he asked, “have you ever been to a club before?”, I shook my head and said no. Then he said, “you must be an indoor child while growing up”, I smiled and looked at him.
Every day I dress his wound, the Holy Spirit always makes me realize that we all can fulfil purpose anywhere. The truth is, God is not asking for too much, he is only asking for a percent from your daily job. He wants us to talk to others about the gospel even in our career and lives.
Here are the Lessons I got from him
1. He is always willing to learn
The first day we met, I asked if he was saved, he was blunt with me and he said no. He once told him he doesn’t like to lie, hence he loves to say the truth.
I told him to work on the devotions after we talked about salvation, he told me he was not sure if he could work on that because he is not used to it.
Then he asked if I pray the way I teach him to, if I hear from the Holy Spirit and how I hear from God. After a long discussion at work, I told myself that I bless God for his heart. He is patient, always listening and ready to learn from the little we spend together.
He came to visit me at work while I was busy one Saturday and while I sat down to document some things, he suddenly asked if it was alright to have girlfriends and boyfriends. He said he wanted to know if it was ideal to date an opposite-sex Christian, I told him no. The next time we saw, he told me he had broken up with his girlfriend, it was then I realized he wanted to know my opinion about teenage dating, after which I explained the reason why I told him a no.
I sometimes see the way Carlos act like a child, but the book of Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear Children”.
2. He makes me involved in the things he does
Yesterday night, a friend posted on his WhatsApp status that “how would you have a spiritual father/mother that you don’t have their contact”. Same way with coach/mentors, how would you have a mentor whom you can’t tell your next goal so they can explain things to you?
I am always careful about calling someone my mentee, or daughter. Most times, I refer to those I teach as friends until I am able to ascertain the truth that I mentor them or coach them.
In the case of Carlos, we don’t see each other every day. If I am on duty, he shows up 3 times during my shift before the week ends. While I am off, he only calls me on phone and we talk on WhatsApp.
Carlos tells me the things he has done between the last day I saw him to the day he sees me. It baffles me, yet I see him as a young man who wants to be transparent enough.
As Christians, we all need to be transparent to God, he knows us and sees us always. We should always involve God in the things we do, steps we want to make and the desires of our heart.
3. He respects and honours those who teach him
He talks about his elder sister a lot. She teaches him to love God, though she is serving the nation as a youth Corp member, he thinks God sent me to replace his sister in his life.
Apart from the way I have seen him talk about his sister, which obviously shows that he respects her too. He respects me too. In most cases, I ask myself how he became a part of my life: everyone at home knows about him, my mum, my bestie, my friend. Everyone. I realized it was because he placed himself in that position.
One of the ways to become a part of someone’s life is to respect the person, a disrespectful person cannot gain the trust or become a part of anyone.
Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 writes to children to obey their parents in the Lord, then to parents, then to servants to be obedient to their masters. Carlos honours men around, he is respectful and I like his personality for that.
The lessons I learnt from Carlos is to be followers of Christ as little children, involve God in things I do, and respect and give honour to men around me.
I hope you learnt one or two things from this? Enjoy the rest of your week
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