Oh, brother! Here comes Lucas, the bully, thought Naeem to himself as he stepped out of the Sunday school van in front of his house. If I can just get inside before he says anything to me . . .
“Hey Naeem! How’re the harp lessons comin’?”
Naeem reluctantly turned around to face Lucas and said cautiously. “Lucas, just leave me alone, okay? I’m not doing anything to you.”
Making faces and pretending to play the harp, Lucas followed Naeem up the driveway and then turned around and left, laughing as he went. As Naeem opened the front door, he thought about how thankful he was nothing had happened this time. Two days before, Lucas had chased him as he was on his way to school, grabbed his lunch and thrown it off the bridge into the river.
“Who was that boy, Naeem, one of your friends?” asked his mother as he entered the living room.
“Hardly. That’s Lucas Rawlins, the school bully. He’s the one that took my lunch Friday.”
As Naeem headed for his room, he thought about what he had learned in Sunday school that morning. Three in One. Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. One God, but they’re all God. His head was spinning as he tried to understand how all this could be. He wished that his parents went to church so that he could ask them to explain things like this. His teacher had told the class that when you’re saved you can understand spiritual things much better. “Maybe it’s time that I get saved,” Naeem said aloud to himself. He sat there for a long time. Finally he buried his head in his pillow. He told God how sorry he was for the bad things he had done and asked to be forgiven. There was so much he needed to understand in the Bible and only God could help him. In a few minutes he knew that something wonderful had happened. He had never felt this way before!
As he walked home from school the next afternoon, Naeem smiled about what had happened the day before, and how it still felt just as good. In a flash, however his smile disappeared.
“Nitwit Naeem. Did you ever find your lunch?”
Trying not to pay any attention to Lucas, Naeem kept walking, but Lucas grabbed his jacket and spun him around.
“Hey, I’m talking to you. Answer me!”
“Let go of me, Lucas. You know my lunch is in the Willapa River where you threw it.”
“Ha! I ought to throw you in so you can find it. Hey, what’s that little book in your pocket?”
“It’s my New Testament,” answered Naeem, surprising himself with his boldness.
“Is that so? God in your pocket? So you’ve got a big Bodyguard now, huh?”
“Yes, Three in One to be exact.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of the Holy Trinity? The Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Ghost? It’s in the Bible, you know.”
“Well, I’ve heard of God, but not one that was three or whatever . . . If you’re so smart, show me where it says that.”
“I don’t remember where it is right now, but it’s when Jesus was being baptized. The Holy Spirit came down to Him while the Father spoke from Heaven. That’s three and they’re all God.”
Lucas pretended he wasn’t interested, but asked offhandedly, “Well, what good is God, anyway?”
“He can save you and change your life and . . . well, make you a Christian.”
Looking down, Lucas said quietly, “I doubt if He could change me.”
Amazed at the difference in Lucas’s attitude, Naeem thought for a moment and said, “Are you interested in what God can do for you, Lucas?”
“Naeem, yesterday my grandma had on a religious program. The guy was saying something about this being the ‘last days’ and that all signs pointed to Jesus coming back. He said that some terrible things would happen, and I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about it.”
“That was the Holy Spirit talking to you, telling you that Jesus is coming back when the Father says it’s time! See, that’s the Trinity! I’m learning about the last days in Sunday school. And I’m ready if the Lord comes, even if it’s right now!”
“Do you really think someone like me could get saved?”
Naeem smiled and said, “Sure, and if you want, I’ll take you to my Sunday school so you can hear more about it!”
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