ਚਮਤਕਾਰਾਂ ਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਦਿਨ

Vimal pulled his auto-rickshaw to the side of the road. Although he’d had many customers throughout the day, he didn’t feel happy. He couldn’t stop thinking about his marriage. It was falling apart!

He loved his wife, Seema—but he couldn’t stop himself from beating her every few days. She made him so angry. He didn’t want to do it, but it just happened.

During religious rituals, Seema would become possessed by spirits and would dance wildly, lose control of her body, and tear her clothes. Vimal didn’t like the way she would lose control of herself. He told her to stop going to the rituals, but she wouldn’t listen. She would arrive home with torn clothing and blood on her face from animal sacrifices, and Vimal would become angry and beat her.

Seema became pregnant twice but miscarried because of her frenzied rituals. She became more and more stubborn, and Vimal became angry, depressed, and guilty.

A Better Way

As Vimal sat in his auto-rickshaw, he wished desperately for a better way. Suddenly, he heard voices from inside a building near the road. There were children and adults inside, and they were listening while someone told a story.

The storyteller spoke about a man who was running away from his troubles. He had betrayed his twin brother and hurt him so badly that he feared for his own life. As he ran away, he stopped to sleep in the wilderness. He didn’t have anything to make him comfortable except a stone as a pillow. He felt lonely and sorry for what he had done to break his family apart.

Vimal listened closely. He knew how this man must have felt.

The storyteller went on. As the man slept, he had a dream. He saw a ladder reaching all the way up to heaven. Angels went up and down the ladder, as if bringing blessings down to this sad, broken man. When he woke up, he felt happy. He built a memorial for his God with the stone he had used as a pillow. The vision of the ladder made him feel connected to God once more, and he knew everything was going to be alright.

A New Book

When the people left, Vimal entered the building shyly.

“Happy Sabbath,” the storyteller greeted him.

“What is Sabbath?” Vimal asked curiously.

“We worship the Creator God,” the storyteller replied. “And He asks us to worship on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, because He created the world in seven days. Just like the ladder in the man’s dream connected heaven and Earth, the Sabbath is a weekly holy day that connects us with God. When we worship on this day, we show our devotion to the Creator God and receive His blessings.”

Vimal was touched by the story of the twin brothers. “Where did you find that story?”

“It is from the Bible, the book of the Lord Jesus Christ,” the storyteller took the book from the shelf and gave it to Vimal. “You can read the story here.”

Vimal thanked the man and went home with his new book. He felt soothed as he read, and he returned the following Saturday. As he sat quietly and prayed to the Creator God on His holy day, something amazing began to happen in his heart.

A Changed Man

One day, as Vimal read his new book, he found a verse that said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (the Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:16)? Light suddenly dawned in his mind.

Since the body is the temple of God, he thought, no one has the right to inflict harm on it. I mustn’t beat my wife anymore.

He had tried to stop many times in the past, but this time it really worked. He knew that reading the Bible and worshiping on the Sabbath day had connected him to the Creator God, who helped to change his heart. It felt as though a divine hand had taken the stony heart out of his chest and replaced it with a heart of kindness.

Reunited!

For several years, Vimal continued worshiping the Creator God on the holy Sabbath day. Slowly, Seema noticed a change in her husband. He didn’t beat her anymore. Instead, he was gentle and kind.

By now, Seema had become very tired and depressed. She noticed that Vimal always seemed so calm after reading the book of the Lord Jesus Christ and returning home from his worship on Saturdays. Finally, when he asked her if she wanted to go with him, she agreed.

“Sabbath is a special holy day for our family,” Vimal says. “It is a day when God invites us to connect with Him. When we connect with Him in this way, He makes miracles. I know my wife and I have a happy marriage today because I learned to worship the Creator God every day, and especially on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath blessings bring us closer to God and to one another.”

Today, Vimal and Seema are happily married with two sons. They tell all their neighbors about the blessings of the Sabbath day.

If you would like to learn more about the Sabbath or obtain a Bible, please contact us at the information on the back of this paper.