Mr. T

About a year ago I was shopping in the flea market. I found just what I needed from a vendor I will call Mr. “T”. We agreed on a price and I placed the order. Before I left I shared Christ with Mr. “T” and he prayed and asked Jesus into his life. In a week I went back to pick up the picture frames and took a booklet on Christian growth for Mr. “T” to read and use for Bible study. I also encouraged him to read the gospel of John. Each time I returned to the flea market I would visit with Mr.“T”. Sometimes I brought him other Christian materials and sometimes we talked about what he was learning from reading his Bible. I kept inviting him to attend our church, but our church was too far away from where he lived. I encouraged him to get involved in a local church where the Bible was being taught. He did say he was participating in a Bible study with some friends. Mr. “T” always seemed happy to see me whenever I came to the flea market, but I was often disappointed after our visits. He frequently smelled like he’d been drinking beer and occasionally even seemed a bit drunk. I talked rather sternly with him about his drinking problem and told him as a believer that was not pleasing to God. He desired to stop drinking but just didn’t seem to be able to quit. A few weeks before Christmas I was buying some gifts. When I saw Mr. “T” he’d been drinking again. I expressed my disappointment to him and he said, “I’ve tried but I just can’t stop.” I explained that his body was a temple of the Holy Spirit and that when he received Christ he also received the Holy Spirit. I said that the Holy Spirit could give him the power to stop drinking. Mr. “T” asked me to pray for him and we prayed together that God would help him to not drink anymore. I went to back to the flea market last month and saw Mr. “T”. He had a big bright smile and looked very clean and his clothes were neat. He also didn’t smell of beer. I asked him how he was doing and he said he had found a church he was going to. I quietly inquired about his drinking problem. He replied, “Do you remember when you prayed for me?” I said I did and he told me that since that time he doesn’t drink much anymore because now when he does he gets sick. He and I both rejoiced that the Lord was helping him overcome his problem. He is truly an example of 2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Submitted by Marleen Robinson