11/04/13 THERE IS A POINT TO THIS STORY
The fellow (Bill Jones) was at the train station and had 10 minutes before he needed to board his train. He decided to get his weight and fortune told by one of the novelty scales near the platform.
He dropped his coin and the machine spat out a card that said, "Your name is Bill Jones, you weigh 185#, you are going to New York and your train leaves in 10 minutes."
Stunned and suspicious, Bill looked around to see if there were any cameras or pranksters, but he saw none.
He put another coin in the machine and it spat out a card that said, "Your name is still Bill Jones, you still weigh 185#, you are still going to New York and your train leaves in 5 minutes."
Bill was aghast. He looked at his clothes, his case and once more around the platform, looking for the informant, but to no avail. He quickly opened his case, changed his shirt, bought a hat a the nearby kiosk and stepped back onto the scales.
He deposited the coin and waited, knowing he had the machine fooled this time, but it spat out a card that said, "Your name is still Bill Jones, you still weigh 185#, you are still going to New York, but your train just pulled out of the station."
Sometimes I (as a pastor) feel like that machine. People present me with the same problems over and over and I always give the same counsel, but they have chosen not to accept or act on my counsel. They keep coming back, as if my answer may have changed. I can only hope that they will eventually accept my counsel before their train pulls out of the station and leaves them standing on the platform, holding the bag, with nowhere to go.
