I Want to Go With You

Kids are funny. If they don't have to ride the school bus, they want to. If they do have to ride the bus, they don't want to. Jeffrey takes Colin to school almost every morning. Sometimes, though, Colin wants to ride with me so he can ride the bus from LES to his school. To do this takes some planning. We discuss the night before the importance of going to bed at a reasonable time and getting up when told to the next morning. Needless to say, this little talk rarely gets us anywhere. I think we have made it twice. This morning, Colin would not get up. I started trying to get him up 25 minutes before I had to leave. Nothing. He finally decided to get up when I was getting Carson out of bed. Here's what happened:

ME hugging Colin: Bye, Colin. Have a good day. I love you.

COLIN: Bye, Mama. I love you too.

Less than 1 minute later, I hear sobbing and turn to see Colin red faced and crying.

ME, afraid he was sick: What's wrong, honey?

COLIN, still in pj's and arms stretched out: I want to go with you.

Sternly, ME: Now, Colin. You knew you had to get up a long time ago. I have to leave and I still have to finish getting your brother ready.

COLIN, still crying: But I want to go with you.

ME: Colin, its too late. I have to be at work in 15 minutes. The bus is already gone.

Colin: BUT I WANT TO GO WITH YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!

Me, feeling bad for him: Honey, I want you to go too, but it is too late. I can't do anything about it now.

This continued on even to the point he followed me to the door, still crying. After placing Carson, who is still sleeping through all of this, in the car, I hugged Colin bye, told him I love him, and shut the door between us.

This may seem totally insignificant to you at this point, but as I drove across town, I thought, "How many times does this happen?" Really. "How many times has someone cried out to their Father, 'God, I want to go with You. Don't leave me here?'"

How sad.

I felt bad for Colin. I knew how he liked to walk in to Carson's daycare and get loved on by his old teachers. I knew how he enjoyed catching the bus and riding back across town. I felt bad for him. I wanted to take him. I didn't want to leave him behind. But it was too late.

What about God?

Unfortunately, He has to say, "I"m sorry. It is too late. I can't take you. I must leave you here," and then shut the door.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

There will be a time that it is too late. There will be a time when God must shut the door and someone will say, "Wait! I want to come with you!" There will be a time when God, will have to say, "I never knew you; depart from Me," to someone.

How sad.

We don't know how much time we have to prepare, to live out God's will. If we don't listen to that first wake up call, it may be the last one. We need to live each moment of our lives for Him. Preparing to be called.

If you are not prepared for that call, then right now, do something about it. Pray to Your Heavenly Father. Cry out to Him. Don't wait until it is too late. Don't wait for Him to say He never knew you, having Him close the door between you forever.

For those of us that are ready for His call, it is our responsibility as children of God, to help others know Him. We can't make them know Him, but we can show them who He is and what He can do. We can be a light shining on the path to God.