The Call: by Christy Shimamoto

    A wood thrush sang its sweet and wild song in the distance. “Won’t you follow me?” The silver voice asked. “No! I won’t!” She cried, “It’s my choice! I’ll serve myself! I’ll do what I want! You and the dragon are the same! You demand my full allegiance! I’ll be free!”

    “You can’t stay on the fence forever,” the voice sang, “if you stay too long, you’ll fall over. I love you. True freedom is found in serving me. Won’t you follow me?” “No! It’s my choice! I’ll stay on the fence for as long as I want!”

    With that, she tried to run away from that pure melody, tried to go far beyond where the song could reach her ears. Another voice took its place. “You’re already mine. You’ve been mine since the day you were born!” This voice was hard and cruel. The dragon was always taunting, always torturing her soul. “You’re mine. Look at all I can give to you! Pleasure, money, and no obligations! You can’t escape me, so why try? Just give in.”

    She took up drinking and smoking, weed and cocaine. And yet still the thrush’s voice called “I still love you, won’t you follow me?”

    Then one day, she saw a church sign. It read: “Sinners Welcome”. But how could there be forgiveness after all she had done? The dragon screamed in her ear, “You’ll never be clean! You’re mine forever!” And yet the bird still called, “Follow me.”

     In she went, besides all the dragon’s protesting. “You see,” the young pastor said, “we don’t have to stay on the devil’s side of the fence forever. If you just accept, you can be taken over from death to life.” At the end of the service, the pastor said a salvation prayer. The wood thrush asked once more, “I love you no matter what you’ve done. Won’t you follow me?” And the girl surrendered. “Yes!” She cried.

Will you follow Him?

He’s calling you.