A
minister passing through his church
in the middle of the
day,
Decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle,
The
minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn't shaved in a while.
His shirt was kind of shabby
and his coat was worn and
frayed,
the man knelt, he bowed his head,
then rose and walked
away.
In the days that followed,
each noon time came this chap,
each
time he knelt just for a moment,
a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister's suspicions grew,
with robbery a main
fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him,
What are you doing
here?"
The old man said, he worked down the road.
Lunch was half an
hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
for finding strength and
power.
I stay only moments, see,
because the factory is so far away;
as
I kneel here talking to the Lord,
this is kind of what I say:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE
WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
DON'T
KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,
BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERY DAY.
SO,
JESUS, THIS IS JIM
CHECKING IN TODAY."
The minister feeling foolish,
told Jim, that was fine.
He told
the man he was welcome
to come and pray just anytime.
Time to go, Jim smiled, said
"Thanks." He hurried to the
door.
The minister knelt at the altar,
he'd never done it
before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love,
and met with Jesus
there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart,
he repeated old Jim's
prayer:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE
WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON'T
KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,
BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS,
THIS IS ME
CHECKING IN TODAY."
Past noon one day, the minister noticed
that old Jim hadn't
come.
As more days passed without Jim,
he began to worry some.
At the factory, he asked about him,
learning he was ill.
The
hospital staff was worried,
but he'd given them a thrill.
The week that Jim was with them,
brought changes in the ward.
His
smiles, a joy contagious.
Changed people, were his reward.
The head nurse couldn't understand
why Jim was so glad,
when no
flowers, calls or cards came,
not a visitor he had.
The minister stayed by his bed,
he voiced the nurse's concern:
No
friends came to show they cared.
He had nowhere to turn.
Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up
and with a winsome
smile:
"The nurse is wrong, she couldn't know,
that in here all the
while,
every day at noon He's here,
a dear friend of mine, you
see,
He sits right down, takes my hand,
leans over and says to
me:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE
WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,
AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
ALWAYS LOVE TO
HEAR YOU PRAY,
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY,
AND SO JIM, THIS IS
JESUS
CHECKING IN TODAY."