Come and See

"Hey, Kaden," Antonio called as he caught up with his friend in the school hallway. "There's going to be a special kids' program at my church on Sunday. Why don't you come?"

"Nah," said Kaden. "I'm gonna watch the baseball game on TV. Nothing's gonna get in the way of me watching the Tigers!" He laughed. "Even if there wasn't a game, I wouldn't want to go to church. It seems pretty silly to me."

"Church isn't silly. It's great!" said Antonio.

"Church is a big waste of time!" Kaden insisted.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Is not! You don't know what you're talking about because you never--"

"Forget it, Antonio," said Kaden. "I'm not going."

Antonio felt bad as Kaden walked away. I wish he'd come, but I shouldn't have argued with him about it, he thought. He remembered the Bible story they talked about in Sunday school a few weeks before about Philip and Nathaniel. When Philip told Nathaniel about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel said, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" But Philip didn't get angry. He simply said, "Come and see."

Going to church isn't the most important thing anyway, Antonio thought. Knowing Jesus is. Maybe if I'm just friends with Kaden, he'll come to see that knowing Jesus is a good thing.

"Kaden, wait up!" Antonio called, running after his friend. "Look, I'm sorry I argued with you about coming to church. I really do think you'd like it, and you should come sometime and see for yourself. But this Sunday, how about coming to my house after I get home from church? We can watch the game together."

"Even if I don't go to church with you?" Kaden asked in surprise.

"Sure," said Antonio. "What kind of snacks should I ask Mom to get?" He knew it was going to be a good Sunday. Linda Weddle