Many years ago we had a good friend who had come to know the Lord from a dark background. The difference in his life was noticeable to all who had known him previously. He now had a perpetual smile on his face, and went around singing all the hymns he knew. It was always a joy to meet him and to hear what he had been discovering as he read his Bible every day. He was growing in his Christian life noticeably from day to day.

     But there were things we learned from him too. His infectious grin was always heartwarming. He was always very careful where he put his Bible down. Never would he put it on the floor beside his feet when he was sitting down. To him, this was an insult to Almighty God. As far as he was concerned there were plenty of other places to put it, rather than on the floor. This was one thing we never forgot.

    One day he came to us very concerned. “I feel so ignorant of the Word”, he said, “How can I remember and learn it better than I do? I was never very good at school,” he went on, “What can I do about it?” “Well, you know what a sieve is like?”, we asked. “Yes,” he said, “And that is just what I feel like, not able to hold anything at all!” “Ah,” we said, “But the point is that the water going through all the time keeps it clean. In the same way, the Water of the Word keeps you clean as you read it, even if you don’t remember much later.” His face broke into a big beaming smile. “Oh, I see it now”, he said, “It’s just a matter of keeping on keeping on!”

   Another time he was still worrying about his lack of knowledge. “What should I do about it?” he asked. “Well, the Lord knows all about it and how you feel so inadequate,” we said, “But the main thing is to be obedient to the little bit you DO know, and then tomorrow or maybe the next day, He will show you the next step that you should do!” “Oh, that’s great!” he said, “I’ll do it that way then!” “It’s just a case of one step at a time…..as we do that one, then we will see the next step to take!”

    We moved away from the district shortly after that and heard of him periodically. But always, he was still going on for his Lord and rejoicing in Him until the day of his death some years later. We still smile as we remember our good friend and the things that he taught us as we interacted with him.