I was in Columbus MS this weekend and my wife and I were in a small restaurant and had just placed our order when I noticed a man staring at me. Suddenly he approached our table and asked, “Is your name Bob Williamson?”
Surprised that anyone might recognize me so far from home, I said, “Yes”.
He then asked if I remembered him. I didn’t, but lamely responded that he looked kind of familiar. He said, “I’m Leroy Nichols man, we used to hang out together”.
Now that was a name I remembered. His nickname was “Hop” and I hadn’t seen Hop Nichols in 42 years and was incredulous that he recognized me. I asked how he did it, and he told me that I still looked the same and hadn’t changed a bit. He had changed and was bald, but now that I knew who he was I recognized his eyes and facial features.
I introduced him to my wife and he began telling her how we used to shoot bumper pool together and one night we were winning a large amount of money from the guys that we were playing. Hop went to the bar to get a beer and one of them approached him and told him that if we kept winning all of their money, Hop and I just might end up floating down the river before the night was over.
Hop looked at my wife and said, “I’m not going to tell you what Bob did when I told him what they said”, and then he broke out laughing. I didn’t remember that particular incident, but I’m sure I probably broke my cue stick over their heads or something similar.
We chatted for a while and then he returned to his table and we promised to stay in touch. The next day I was visiting my father in the hospital, (who by the way is doing much better and looks as though he has dodged another bullet in whipping up on the pneumonia that was ravaging his body). His real estate broker came by the hospital and while chatting with him he asked me if I remembered a guy that he’d played golf with yesterday. I didn’t but he told me the guy remembered me and used to come to the Southernaire Club to watch me shoot bumper pool. I thought that this was getting way-too-weird as he recounted more of the exploits of my youth as told to him by his golfing partner.
I was reminiscing of those days this morning and caught myself smiling. I could hear the loud music thumping from Big Ben and the Moonlighters, smell the strong odor of beer in the air, and taste the tartness of my beloved rum and Coke with two twists of lime. I would walk into the pool room in my tight blue jeans and smile at the good looking women lining the walls. The room would be filled to capacity with most betting on me. I did not disappoint my fans, generally I would demolish opponent after opponent, winning hundreds of dollars most every night. Usually towards the end of the night a fight would erupt, and then the place would be in pandemonium. That was just fine with me and I considered it all to be great fun!
Or was it? Back then I would have answered with a resounding yes, but today I would answer no.
I wasn’t a Christian back then and my values were entirely different. Hard drinking, pills, gambling, sex, and fighting were as natural to me as the sun coming up. Every day I could feel the “call of the wild” beckoning to me to come join in the “fun”, and most every night I did exactly that.
But then I became a Christian and that life changing event transformed my way of thinking. Today my “call of the wild” is quite different. I love to hunt and fish and ride around in my truck or on my horse and view the abundant wildlife on our plantation. I like to see the strutting turkeys, hear the Bobwhite quail whistles, see little spotted newborn fawns, snowy egrets lifting off the edge of a swamp and lazily flying across misty ponds lined with ancient cypress trees, and at night hear bullfrogs yelling their love for each other across Honey Lake.
What is different? After we accept Christ as our Savior and truly become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us as believers. After this indwelling a conscience is born and God’s love fills the void of its absence in our hearts, spirits, and soul.
This is not to say that the “call of the wild” of the dark side does not continue to beckon to us, but it is to say that we know that such things are wrong and will do us harm and now we have a Helper to assist with resisting its tempting call.
I smiled at some of the antics and craziness of my youth when meeting with Hop Nichols, but as I sit here I also remember where it led. Several of my friends at that time were killed in car wrecks, two were shot and killed, others became alcoholics, most were married and divorced numerous times and on and on.
Me? Well my story is well documented. I went on to lead a life filled with drugs, alcohol, crime, violence, prison, and mayhem. My friend Hop used to hang out with my brother as well and I informed him that he ended up committing suicide. Jim’s “call of the wild” ended in deep, dark depression and a bullet to the temple.
Hmmm…That smile is no longer present on my face. The fond memories are no longer fond memories.
If you feel the “call of the wild” today, I urge you to resist it, unless of course it is the “call of the wild” located at Honey Lake or similar wholesome place. We do not find what we need and yearn for in this world in a bar room or a bedroom; it is not in a needle, bong, neat little white rows on a mirror, or in some magic pill; we won’t find it in fancy automobiles, boats, or airplanes; it is not in a Schwab account, stock portfolio, bar of gold, or Bearer bond; it is not in a grand home, or car. No, my friends, we can only find the peace, joy, and love that we desire and need in Jesus Christ. It’s found in churches, and soccer fields, at the beach, fishing ponds, on a deer stand, and many other places. Good clean fun is what it is called and where it’s at.
If good clean fun is not fun for you today and sounds boring and hokey, then just maybe you reside where I did so many years ago. Just maybe there is no indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you. If you fit that description I recommend and urge you to correct that problem at your earliest opportunity, before those good times turn into bad times. Selah…
Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.