The Old Man, A Mole, and A Pastor

While going through things at home last week I ran across a small notebook that I kept close by for when I had a thought come to me. I was going to throw it away, but before I did I wanted to see if I had written anything that I would like to keep. When I started thumbing through it, I came across a dream I had 6 years ago. Then I remembered writing it down. Here is what I wrote.

Dec. 2003 - just before Christmas I had this dream.

Half-way house
Old man - look like a drunk
Pastor - distinguished, classy
A mole - ugly, hair matted, eating rats, barely could move, only grunted when touched, was nothing to be desired.

I watched as the old man would pick up "the mole" and "try" to feed him.

I asked him, "Why are you trying to feed that old mole anything else besides rats?"

He answered, "Because I use to be an "old mole" just like him, but that man over there forced me to eat delicious food off of the table, and here I am today." (this old man had a ways to go - he was still very unkept)

When he said "that man over there" I turned and saw a very distinguished man. I was shocked to see him. I had known him all my life, yet did not know he had worked with this "kind of animals" to rehabilitate them. I watched as he literally picked this "critter" up, held it in his arms and forced its mouth open to feed it bites of steak and delicious food that only those who were human would eat. As I continued watching he made sure the "critter" chewed a few bites, then he sat him back down on the floor, shook his head sadly and thought to himself, "It's so sad to see something like this not enjoy the delicous food I feed him. He just wants to stay the way he is, because he doesn't know any different." Day after day I watched as this man, the Pastor would take this "old critter" in his arms and feed him...trying to get him to change. Never did he seem discouraged with his mission!

Then the scene changed:

A lovely young couple walked up with two babies. They were smiling. One of the babies had wet all over itself, so the father reached down and took it into the building that was close by to clean him up. I realized it was the old half-way house and he knew where to go.

As I stood watching I noticed some friends of the Pastor who were waiting for him to go eat. They were getting rather impatient, because he seemed so attentive to this young couple. Then it dawned on me WHO this couple was.

The young man had been the "old critter" (mole) in the first part of my dream! I had watched the Pastor feed him, and because of the Pastor there had been a transformation in this young man's life so great that he could stand up tall and straight with his shoulders back, smiling, dressed nicely, having a family, and living joyously!

I ran to tell the friends of the Pastor this story and they were all amazed, because they had never known he had worked like this to help "those kind of people"!

That was the end of my dream, then I went ahead and wrote:

WOW! How God uses a man to change a soul so they can have life! Yet, I see some who are returning to their "old life" - forgetting all those times the under-shepherd took them in his arms and fed them. Could it be that the "old man" who was STILL in the half-way house was someone the Pastor had helped, yet they didn't want to make the change? They just grew up from being a "mole" to someone grovelling along the ground eating the rats of life. When it came to really changing they just wanted a "little bit" of the good food they were offered. Enough to be satisfied, but not enough to be changed into a life of fulfillment. So, they remained grown up, but still had the look of a beggar.

Contrast that to the young man who had it all together. It seemed he was fed forcefully at times...made to open his mouth...made to chew his food, and because the Pastor never gave up on him, he had become a great young man with a life full of all God wanted him to have. Yes, there was a daily reminder with the "old man" who continued to hang around the half-way house that there would always be those who would not change - they would stay just inside, in the warmth of the half-way house, never satisfied or transformed. Just existing! On the other hand, there will always be great joy when a Pastor see's the "fruit of his labor" in the lives of those who want to live for God with all their hearts, and have a life-changing experience! Even though there are some who do not want to eat when the Pastor preaches, there are a lot more who love eating what is set before them! They WANT to do whatever it takes to be saved! Those people are the ones who make the "task of being a Pastor" worth it!

A few more thoughts as I review:

Dear Pastor....PREACH ON! Preach the Word so I can be saved! PLEASE...don't get weary! If you have to say, "EAT IT it'll make you healthy"...SAY IT! Preach "stubborness" out of my life! Preach "self-justification" out of my heart! Call "sin" SIN! Don't let me be decieved into thinking I'm okay, just because "everyone is doing it"! PREACH! PLEASE PREACH!

To the "old man" who only ate just enough to exist, but not enough to change (anyone can be this "old man")....Someday you will regret that you didn't listen and follow instructions. You thought you could "hear, yet not obey" and still be changed. You thought you could do it "your way", but let me remind with a heart filled with love and mercy, you can't make it without a Pastor who will "preach without fear or favor". You find it hard to swallow the food he prepares for his flock, so you remain unchanged, grovelling in the things of this world, miserable, unhappy, hoping to make everyone think you're doing alright by trying to "feed others around you", but what you have to offer is "not accepted" by those who are really hungry.

Mr. or Mrs. Mole - transformed into being a "new creature" in Christ Jesus....Keep following the Pastor that God has placed in your life! Eat from the Word he serves at every meal! You will have a beautiful fulfilled life, and when you walk through the gates of the city you'll be so happy that you "feasted at the King's table"!!!! Now...that's GOOD EATIN'!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor. 5:17 )

Note: I don't know if this makes sense to anyone but me. I do know that I don't want to be someone who "says" I will follow Him, then turn away from what I know is truth!

There is a song written many years ago that said it like this:

"If I carry the gospel to the regions of the lost; To a world that's going astray. Don't let me fail just in sight of the gate, and become just a cast away."