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Once, a
friend of my roommate came to our room for a visit from
another town. My roommate introduced me and told him
that I was a Christian. I shook his hands and said
‘hallo’. He looked at me rather strangely and curiously
and asked ‘Kitna mila?’ (How much did you get?). I was a
little puzzled and thought that maybe I did not hear him
properly and asked him what he meant. He asked me ‘How
much did they pay you to lure you into Christianity?’
Even before I could open my mouth to reply, my roommate
promptly interfered saying ‘He is an original Christian’
and took him away. This incident made me think, how many
people are led to believe by several fanatical groups
using their propaganda saying that people are purchased
by the Church.
She was
an extraordinarily brilliant student. She hailed from a
traditional family who were the custodians of temples.
Their family had been involved in several rituals for
centuries over several generations. They were not poor
by any means. She grew up endorsing the family
traditions and zealously following it. Then, she came
over to another city to do her doctoral studies in one
of the prestigious institutions in India. It was during
this time that Deepa started thinking about God and
started searching for the TRUE GOD. All possibilities
were open in front of her. Are all gods the same? Am I
worshipping the real god? Can there be several gods? As
these questions grew louder and louder in her mind, she
was struggling to find the truth. A friend invited her
to a church. Her life was transformed ever since! She
was convinced that there could be only one God and it
was Jesus Christ and started following Him. Can anyone
ask this brilliant girl ‘Kitna mila’?
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He was
my classmate during my school days. We played and
studied together. He was from a very decent family and
his father was a successful businessman. I vividly
remember once he told me ‘your Mom told you these are
stones so for you these are stones but my Mom told me
that these are my gods and so for me, they are gods’. As
a school student this made me ask questions after
questions. Am I following Christ just because my parents
told me that this is our God? Is this decided by my
parents? What is my part in this decision? Thankfully, I
made a decision to follow Christ and found a reason to
follow Him, not just because my parents told me to. I
lost all touch with this friend of mine for more than a
decade and very recently I found him through a community
website. Now, he is well educated and is working for a
good company in Europe.
This
time again, he made me think! I saw lots of gospel
videos and Bible verses all over his profile! I was
wondering is this the same long lost friend of mine? I
asked him what made him change his mind. So he told me…
‘I was feeling very lonely, during that time I started
reading Bible. I started becoming very humble and honest
with God. There was huge fight between me and God for
several years. Finally, I told him to prove that He is
my only God and He did so. Then, I gave up my other
faith and now I am a Christ believer. Slowly I told my
parents. They couldn’t say anything because I am not
doing anything wrong, other than following Christ. So it
happened just like that’. Can anyone ask Ganesh ‘Kitna
mila?'
When
Anand Mahadevan, Syed Hadeed, Rajiv Menon, Salma Ali,
Jaya Ramamurthy, Prabhu Guptara, Anil Kant and several
countless others accepted Christ as their Lord and God,
Can you ask them ‘Kitna mila’? When young and old ask
and seek sincerely, Truth is revealed as Bible says
‘Seek and you will find’. God is not far away from
anyone who seeks Him with honesty with a sincere heart.
May be in one sense you can ask them ‘Kitna mila?’ They
would be happy to say… not in terms of money but in
terms of peace, joy, hope, freedom and eternal life.
They
are purchased not by Church but by CHRIST and not by
dollars but by His own BLOOD! Seek Him and you will find
Him…CHALLENGE!
Dr.
Blesson C. S. M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D. is working as
Research Scientist in the Division for Reproductive
Endocrinology, Department of Woman and Child Health,
Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden. |
