Those of you who know me pretty well know I have been fascinated with the story of Jim Elliot and the missionaries that were martyred on Jan. 8, 1956 while trying to bring the Gospel to the Auca Indians. There have been several books written by Elisabeth Elliot about this, and I highly recommend that you read them (Through the Gates of Splendor, The Shadow of the Almighty, The Journals of Jim Elliot, The Savage My Kinsman).
I just finished reading "The Shadow of the Almighty" again, and it was amazing how fresh my heart was to the message...especially here at Christmas. And it makes me even more burdened for the lost...a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how comfortable we are, and if we really know what it means to sacrifice. Think about this for a minute:
"We cuddle around the Lord's table as though it were the last coal of God's altar, and warm our hands, thinking that it will appease the wrath of the indignant Christ when He charges us with the unmet , unchallenged, untaught generation of heathen now doing their Christmas shopping. It makes me boil when I think of the power we profess and the utter impotency of our action. Believers who know one-tenth as much as we do are doing one hundred times more for God, with His blessing and our criticism. Oh, if I could write it, preach it, say it, paint it, anything at all, if only God's power would become known among us!" Jim Elliot
How comfortable are we in our world? Are we challenged to go out and minister to the lost? Or do we think someone else will do it? If we don't, we will surely answer to Christ, who we claim to love, for those souls lost because we did not speak. We're afraid to speak, to witness, for fear of offending someone, when lives are laid down every day for the Gospel...
The following quote is framed in my office, and it is one to meditate on:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot
We cannot keep our lives...we must give them so that we can bring others to know the Father that we know.
Jim Elliot followed his Savior all the way...and in witnessing to those lost, he lost his life. And in sacrificing his life, he opened a path for others to win the Aucas to Christ. And he gained Heaven and He saw the One he loved more than life face to face! I'm challenged, folks...do I want to stay stagnant and complacent, or do I want to follow my Savior all the way?
Remember the lost this Christmas...what are they really celebrating? What are you celebrating?
I just finished reading "The Shadow of the Almighty" again, and it was amazing how fresh my heart was to the message...especially here at Christmas. And it makes me even more burdened for the lost...a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how comfortable we are, and if we really know what it means to sacrifice. Think about this for a minute:
"We cuddle around the Lord's table as though it were the last coal of God's altar, and warm our hands, thinking that it will appease the wrath of the indignant Christ when He charges us with the unmet , unchallenged, untaught generation of heathen now doing their Christmas shopping. It makes me boil when I think of the power we profess and the utter impotency of our action. Believers who know one-tenth as much as we do are doing one hundred times more for God, with His blessing and our criticism. Oh, if I could write it, preach it, say it, paint it, anything at all, if only God's power would become known among us!" Jim Elliot
How comfortable are we in our world? Are we challenged to go out and minister to the lost? Or do we think someone else will do it? If we don't, we will surely answer to Christ, who we claim to love, for those souls lost because we did not speak. We're afraid to speak, to witness, for fear of offending someone, when lives are laid down every day for the Gospel...
The following quote is framed in my office, and it is one to meditate on:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot
We cannot keep our lives...we must give them so that we can bring others to know the Father that we know.
Jim Elliot followed his Savior all the way...and in witnessing to those lost, he lost his life. And in sacrificing his life, he opened a path for others to win the Aucas to Christ. And he gained Heaven and He saw the One he loved more than life face to face! I'm challenged, folks...do I want to stay stagnant and complacent, or do I want to follow my Savior all the way?
Remember the lost this Christmas...what are they really celebrating? What are you celebrating?
