A Letter to the Church Chapter Twenty-One: I Lost the Child I Had Been Entrusted With

During the rainy season of 2007, if I remember correctly, my mother left me at home and told me not to leave because my younger sibling, who was two years old at the time, was asleep and there was no one else at home. Shortly after my mother had left, my heart began to tell me, “Since your younger sibling is asleep and your mother is not here, you could go and play football with the other children. Don't worry; no one will find out.” I wrestled with myself and found myself at a crossroads, wondering whether I should continue fulfilling the responsibility I had been given, to remain at home and look after the child, or go and play football.

I Went to Play Football

In the end, I chose to abandon the responsibility I had been given to guard the home and look after the child, and I went to play football. But as I left, I made another mistake in addition to the one I had already intended to make: I left the door of the house unlocked.

I Lost the Child I Had Been Entrusted With

As the hours passed, my heart kept telling me to return home so that my mother would not find me away when she came back. When I finally returned, I found the door open, but my younger sibling was nowhere to be found in the house. I panicked. Fear filled my heart because I knew I would have no explanation to give my mother. I began searching around the neighborhood, asking people whether anyone had seen my younger sibling. Fortunately, I found a neighbor who had the child with her. She told me that she had heard the child crying inside the house and had come and taken the child with her. When I asked her to give the child back to me, she refused. Instead, she told me I had to explain where I had been first.

In truth, I had assumed that my mother did not yet know that I had wandered away. But when she returned home, the neighbor reported what had happened, and it became known that I had failed to guard the home properly.

Conclusion and Lessons

As believers, we have been entrusted with the responsibility to guard and not neglect the temple, which is our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Ephesians 4:27; 1 Peter 5:8–9). We have been given the responsibility not to wander away but to remain in God's presence (Psalm 84:10; John 15:4). We have also been entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the faith once for all delivered to us (2 Timothy 1:14).

Just as my heart deceived me (Jeremiah 17:9), leading me to wander away and neglect what had been entrusted to me because I thought no one would know, Satan continues to use the same kind of deception to cause many believers to fall. Although I thought my mother had not yet discovered what I had done, losing the child caused everything I had done to be exposed. Perhaps you also think that the sinful habits you are engaging in will never be discovered. But leaving the child—Jesus—behind will eventually reveal what has been happening.

Are You Still Guarding What Was Entrusted to You? Perhaps you have tried to erase the evidence. But just as my younger sibling became evidence of my failure to guard what had been entrusted to me, there may also be evidence showing that you have not been guarding what God entrusted to you. Therefore, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:5). For the Lord God is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Rather, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).