It was a Sunday in 1919. Rev. Benjamin F. Hogan was preaching at the little 48-member  Rincon Baptist Church in Rincon, Georgia.  

On that Sunday, two teenage girls heard the gospel and responded, stepping forward to receive baptism as new believers in Jesus Christ.
One of the girls was named after her state, “Georgia.” For the next 84 years, she faithfully served the Lord at the same church, singing in the choir, and serving 75 years as the Sunday School secretary. She lived to see the church celebrate its centennial, and at her death she was able to say that she personally knew every pastor the church had ever had and was able to see the church celebrate its centennial.

Mrs. Georgia had a very direct way of talking to people, and when she spoke, most people jumped. On my first Sunday as her pastor, I was greeting people at the door, and she glared at me and said, “The preacher isn’t supposed to stand on that side, he’s supposed to stand on the other side.” I said, “Yes ma’am!” and I jumped to the other side. I later heard that she told one pastor that his wife was having too many babies, and he told her it wasn’t any of her business!

Shortly before the church’s centennial, I sat down with Mrs. Georgia at her kitchen table to ask her about the church’s history. She told me about every pastor, and told me the ones she liked, and the ones she didn’t like. I was afraid to ask what she thought of me! When she told me another young lady accepted Christ the same day as her, I asked about the other girl, she bluntly said, “She didn’t turn out so good.”

What a contrast! Two people joined the same church on the same day. One faithfully served the Lord for many years, but the other dropped out.

May this true story be a lesson to us all. What we choose to do today will affect our lives tomorrow and the next day. We often greatly underestimate what can happen over a long period of time if we remain faithful, whether it is losing weight, paying off debt, or growing in our relationship with God. In fact, if you read about two chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament every day, you can read the entire Bible in a year! The reason people don’t lose weight or pay off debt or read through the Bible is not because it is hard to do a little today, but because it is hard to faithfully do a little today and a little again tomorrow and again the next day...

Who will you be like in 2010? Will you be like faithful “Mrs. Georgia,” or will you be like her friend who didn’t turn out so good?

(Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers. E-mail brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” go to the Web site of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.)