GOD REALLY LOVES YOU...SO PLEASE HEAR HIS VOICE

By Brother Alfred Nenguwo

Ranganai was a good-looking young boy who lived in the Save valley. His summer days were filled with times of walking through the woods, playing with friends, and fishing in the Save River Fishing was by far his favorite thing to do. Just about every day during his summer holiday, he would dig up some worms and head off, pole in hand, for a day of fishing.

This steamy hot day was like most others during Ranganai's summer break. Waking early, he could hear the river calling him to come fish. Ranganai quietly walked out the front door, grabbed his pitchfork and worm pail from the porch, and walked into the woods to search for bait. He turned over old stumps and dug under leaves hoping to find worms. Under one old stump he hit the jackpot. The ground was writhing. In two minutes he had all the bait he needed, and in 15 minutes he was at the river.

Reaching into his bait bucket, Ranganai pulled out a big worm. He double hooked it and tossed it into the water. He noticed a stinging in his hand, but filled with the excitement of the moment, he paid no attention to it. Within 30 seconds, Ranganai had a strike and pulled in a nice fish. Wow, he thought, a fish in the first minute. This is unbelievable!

He put the catch on his stringer, hurried to rebait his hook, and tried his luck again. Once again he felt a stinging sensation in his hand as he threw his hook into the pond. He didn't have time to worry about it. Within just a few seconds, he had another huge fish. He fumbled the next time he baited his hook-his hand felt numb and stiff. But Ranganai was too excited about catching another fish to give it much thought.
At the end of only an hour of fishing, Ranganai had caught eight large fish. This was definitely his best fishing day ever. He was so proud of his accomplishment that, even though there was plenty of day left to fish, he threw the heavy stringer of fish over his shoulder and dashed down the dirt road toward home to show off his catch to his mom and dad.

The locals started to congratulate him on his catch of fish. With a smile and a victory whoop, Ranganai held up the stringer. An Young man stopped him, and strode over to Ranganai. His eyes hadn't deceived him- arms really were red and swollen to about twice their normal size. Exactly where have you been and what bait did you use to catch all those fish?" The young man asked Ranganai, already guessing the answer.

I found some special bait under an old stump," Ranganai boasted. "These worms really wiggle good," he commented, handing up the bait bucket for inspection. After a close look at the worms, the youung man went into fast-forward. Securing the bucket he then scooped Ranganai and his stringer of fish on his back. Spinning a U-turn on the gravel road, he sped off to the hospital, but Ranganai was already dead.

What the young man had discovered was that Ranganai had been fishing with baby puffadders. Ranganai's deadly bait brought him a good morning's fishing but cost him his life. Had Ranganai stopped fishing after that first sting, he could have been saved. One bite from a baby snake won't kill a person who gets treatment in time. But Ranganai was having fun and didn't bother himself with the small voice of pain in his hand.

Then, as his hand grew numb, even that small voice was silenced. Playing around with sin is like using baby snakes for bait. Sinning seems harmless to young people who don't recognize sin and are unaware of its deadly consequences. The more sin you get into, however, the more numb you become to its sting. In the excitement of the moment, you ignore the still small voice of God warning you of danger and encouraging you to choose life instead of death.

GOD REALLY LOVES YOU...SO PLEASE HEAR HIS VOICE SO THAT YOU CAN BE SAVED.ALL IS WELL

Brother Alfred is a CYF member from Mbare Church