Moving Day

By Guy K. Henry

www.guyhenry.com

 

I have always dreaded moving day. I don't like packing my things into boxes. I don't like loading up the boxes into a truck. I don't like driving those boxes around. I really don't like to unload the boxes, and then live out of them for six months. I don't enjoy getting my telephone and electric hooked up. It's not fun telling people my new address. When it comes to moving, I have always tried to avoid it!

This moving day was different. True, I was definitely moving, but there were none of the headaches. According to the gentleman at the gate, I was going to be leaving all of my old stuff behind. I wouldn't miss it though as there was new and better things at my destination. Now that sounded good. Why hadn't I thought of just starting over before?

I was directed to the courthouse in the center of town. I had been to many cities before, but none were so clean and beautiful as this one. I got in line to find out which apartment I would be living in.

It was crowded, but the line moved quickly. As I waited I thought about my friend who had made this move possible. I could never afford to live in a place as wonderful as this. I heard my name announced, and went into the large courtroom.

As I walked to the front I saw my friend sitting, smiling at me. I ran to him and he said warmly, "Welcome, Guy."

All this had attracted the attention of the great judge sitting in the center of the room. He had been watching our reunion, but I hadn't noticed His eyes. My friend spoke up and said to the judge, "Guy is with me, I have paid his way."

I turned around to see the judge break into a smile.  It wasn't the smile of one who had heard a joke, it was a warm, welcoming smile that reminded me of my friend.

I started to ask my friend all the questions I had been saving up for this occasion. His smile grew larger when he said, "We have all the time in the universe for those, why don't you go and see your new home."

Oh yes, the apartment my friend had arranged for. I took a card with directions on it and left the great courtroom. "I'll be back!" I shouted as I exited.

I was more into taking in all of the wonderful sights of this city than in paying attention to the directions. After a while I realized that I must be lost. The houses were huge and very ornate. The yards resembled parks more than plots of grass. "I am definitely in the wrong neighborhood." I thought to myself.

I started to look for a payphone to try and call my friend. I walked to the corner where I hoped to find one. On my way I saw something which stopped me abruptly on the sidewalk. There was a sign in front of a large house. It read, in large letters, "Guy K. Henry".

"What is going on?" I thought. This was no apartment! I knew my friend was generous, but I had never expected to find a house as extraordinary as this! "So this is the place He has prepared for me." I said in awe. "Wow!"

I walked into the house, where my amazement just magnified. I had never even been in a mansion, and now I had one of my own, thanks to my friend. This was incredible!

After about what seemed like an hour of exploring my new house, a thought struck me. "I wonder who my neighbors are?" With great anticipation I flew out the back door.

As I headed to the back of the yard, I heard a familiar voice. "Pete!" I shouted when I recognized it. Pete had moved here a few years earlier than me and I had never had a chance to say goodbye to him. We caught up with each other for quite some time. I couldn't have asked for a better neighbor.

I continued exploring and found my parents living across the street. I met up with many of my Awana kids. My Melissa's house was on the other side of my yard. There was one joyous reunion after another. My heart was filled with overwhelming joy.

"Where is Matt?" I wondered to myself. I had always counted on the fact that Matt certainly would be my neighbor here. He was my best friend in the old town. We did things together. We talked about all sorts of things. We went to church together. "Where is Matt?" I again wondered. It was a big city, perhaps he was in a nearby neighborhood.

"Have you seen Matt?" I asked Dwanye.

"No." he replied.

"Have you seen Matt?" I asked Allie.

"No." Allie answered.

"Have you seen Matt?" I asked Paula.

"No I haven't." Paula said.

After a while I decided to head back to the courthouse. Perhaps there would be an information booth or a directory where I could look Matt up. It was odd that Matt wasn't in my neighborhood, I just hoped that he wasn't too far away.

I squeezed past the line going into the courtroom and gave a thumbs up to Erin. "You are gonna love it here!" I said.

I couldn't find a directory anywhere in the building. That is when I thought about my friend who had paid my way. He would still be in the courtroom. If anyone would know where Matt was, He would.

I slipped into the courtroom to find my friend. He was still sitting next to the great judge. My friend always has time for me, and He never turns me away. I knew that, so I ran up to Him. "Have you seen Matt? I can't find Matt? Do you know where his house is?" I said all in one breath.

My friend's face grew sad. A tear slowly formed in His eye. He then pointed to the center of the room.

There stood Matt with an angel on both sides. His head was hanging low. Chains wrapped around his wrists and legs. Something was wrong. As he stood before the great judge, I saw something that I hadn't seen anywhere else in the city, dirt. I hadn't noticed it before, but there wasn't any dirt in the whole city. Now the only dirt I had seen since I came to the city was caked to my friend's hands, face and clothes.

"Matt!" my voice echoed through the room. He slowly rotated his head so that his gaze met mine. "Matt, what's wrong?"

I tugged on my friend's robe and said, "Aren't you going to step forward and tell the judge that Matt is with you?"

"I am sorry, but I don't know Matt," my friend sadly said.

I watched as an angel's finger ran down the pages of a book labeled "The Book of Life". The angel looked up at the judge and slowly shook his head left and then right. Matt fell, face to the ground.

The two angels on Matt's side picked him up by the arms. They pulled his head up so that he faced the great judge.

The judge spoke. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

"NO!" Matt cried out

The judge continued. "I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."

With that the angels picked Matt's limp body up, and started to drag him away.

"Matt!" I shouted again.

He looked up. He didn't say anything with his mouth, but his eyes said it all. "If you knew, why didn't you tell me!" they shouted.

I yelled back, "I thought that you knew Him, it never came up…"

The angels lifted him up into the air, and then cast him into a dark hole. His cries of anguish were the last I heard from Matt.

It has been a long time since that moving day. The wonders of that first day have not diminished. When things are especially joyous  I look around to share the moment with Matt, but he is not there. I am reminded of all the chances that I had to introduce him to my friend, but didn't. I think of him pretty often, but not nearly so often as I am sure he thinks about me.

 

Revelation 20:15

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."