The Devil and Tom Walker To sign your soul to the devil takes an extremely greedy and desperate person but even that person will begin to wonder how he or she will be received in the afterlife. Trying to right your wrongs by doing good deeds and other things is practically meaningless if it doesn't reflect a clean and pure heart.
In the short story “ The Devil and Tom Walker “ tom tries to make up for his sins in 3 different ways throughout the story. The first thing he started doing was attending church on a consistent basis. The church is often known as a hospital for broken hearts and souls, but many believe just going to church alone makes you holy and right with god but it does not. Tom clearly believes this because it says “ He thought with regret on the bargain he had made with his black friend, and set his wits to work to cheat him out of his conditions. He became, therefore, all of a sudden a violent churchgoer.” Little does he know you need a relationship with god and not just a reserved seat in the sanctuary.
Not only does he began attending church violently, he also started “ praying loudly and strenuously as if heaven were to be taken by force of his lungs”
Prayer is essential in the
Christian's life. Without it your witness will be far less effective and you will be far more vulnerable to the enemy. When you witness, you need the blessing and support of the Lord.
You need to be in fellowship with Him. Prayer makes this all possible but for tom this is all in vain because if you do not know about the god you are praying to, or have a relationship with him there is no point.
The last thing he does is carry a bible with him everywhere he goes, the story says “ he always carry a small bible in his coat pocket. He also had a great folio bible on his counting house desk, and would frequently be found reading it when people called on the business: on such occasions he would lay his green spectacles on the book, to mark the place, while