Christian’s Next Test.
” What happened to Christian while he was going up the steep hill?” Bobby asked the next time he saw Uncle Jeff.
“Well now,” Uncle Jeff said, “he got slower and slower and more tired as he kept going up the hill. Then he saw a summer-house on the side of the road that the King had built for His people to rest in. It had a comfy couch and a couple of copies of the same book that he’d been given at the Cross. Christian sat down thankfully, lay back and opened his book at the place where it described the armour that the King provides for His people. He shut his eyes, and when he finally opened them again, he found it was getting late in the afternoon. He seemed to hear a little voice saying in his mind, ‘Go to the ant you lazy fellow, watch what she does and become wise’. ‘Oh dear,’ said Christian out loud, ‘I’ve wasted nearly a whole afternoon. I’d better hurry and make up time’.
Suddenly he saw two men racing down the hill towards him looking frightened out of their wits. One was called Scared and the other was Timid. ‘Why are running so fast and where are you going?’ Christian asked. ‘Oh,’ said Timid, ‘we found this way too hard. The further we went, the harder it got. There are even lions in the way!’ ‘Yes’, said Scared, ‘the lions saw us and started to roar, so we turned around and ran away before they grabbed us!’
Christian began to be afraid after they ran off down the hill. ‘What shall I do?’ he asked himself, ‘Where’s my book? It might tell me what to do’. But he couldn’t find it anywhere. ‘I wonder if it’s back where I went to sleep?’ he thought, ‘I’d better go back and find it’. So he had to go all the way back, and sure enough, there it was where he had been lying down. ‘I’ll have to be more careful’, he thought, ‘and not be too lazy to pick it up next time I stop’.”
“What did that mean?” Bobby asked, “Most of the things in this story seem to mean something”. “That’s right Bobby,” Uncle Jeff said, “It means that we must not be too lazy to have our morning reading each day, or it will get too easy to just forget it altogether”. “I’ve got a book for my morning readings”, Betty piped up. “That’s good “, said Uncle Jeff, “Then you won’t be like Christian who got so frightened when he got a bit further and heard the lions begin to roar. It was getting dark too, and he couldn’t see the way very clearly. The lions roared more loudly, and kept pulling at their chains. Christian ran as fast as he could, keeping to the middle of the path, and fell down by a gate that he could dimly see in the half light.
A man came forward to meet him. ‘My name is Watchman’, he said, ‘and I help people through this gate’. He rang a bell, and a young girl came to open it. ‘Here you are Wisdom, take this man and give him something to eat and a bed for the night’. “Yes, Watchman’, she said, ‘and I’ll introduce him to the rest of the family too’. She went ahead of Christian and led him inside. She called her parents, Mr and Mrs. Hospitable, and her other two sisters, Lovey and Prudence, and said, ‘Here’s a man who is on his way to the Celestial City and he needs a bed for the night’. ‘Oh thank-you so much’, Christian said, ‘but why are the lions on the side of the road outside?’ ‘That’s a test for people coming this way,’ Mr. Hospitable said, ‘Did you see anyone else as you came up the hill?’ ‘Yes, I did,’ said Christian ‘and they nearly persuaded me to go back with them’.
‘You must never do that,’ Mr. Hospitable said, ‘The King says that those who put their hand to the plough are never to look backwards’. ‘Yes,’ said Lovey, ‘You must always keep on going. The lions can never touch you no matter how much they rant and roar’. ‘That’s right,’ said Prudence, ‘You always have to be watchful and careful, and make sure you read your book every day’. ‘Thank-you so much ,’ said Christian, ‘and thank-you for giving me a bed for tonight too’. ‘We do this for all the Christians that come our way’, said Wisdom, ‘The King has given us this home and we are to share it with others as they need it, and encourage them on their way the next day’.”
Uncle Jeff got up and stretched. “Well, that’s enough for today”, he said, “We don’t want you to get tired of this story, it has so many great meanings in it. We’ll have more next time”.