Lately I have been reading a book to Lydia, a biography on the life of Sundar Singh. He was a man from India who, after miraculously being saved by God, was a missionary not only to his own people, but also to those in Tibet and many other countries. He completely dedicated his life to Jesus, and became a Christian "Sadhu" (holy man). He did not have a home or family, but instead traveled through treacherous mountains and hostile villages, all to share the Good News! Here is a brief excerpt from the book, written by Janet and Geoff Benge . . .
"When Sundar arrived in San Francisco, a reporter asked him what he wanted to achieve while in the United States. Sundar replied, "I do not seek to Christianize America. I come only as a witness of what Christ has done for me. America is already a Christian nation. But although America has many sincere Christians, the majority of the people here have no religion. Here, where it is easy to have religion, where religion is offered on every side, and no one is persecuted for being a Christian, life should be happy and peaceful because of Christianity. But it is not. Instead there is a hustle and bustle after money and comfort and pleasure, and that all clouds out thoughts of religion. Because it is so easy to have faith in this country, Americans do not appreciate what a comfort there is in religion. At one time the ostrich could fly, but because it did not ever use its wings, it lost its ability to do so. Just so, the people here who do not appreciate the religious faith of their fathers shall lose it."
And that was in 1920. Wow. Our country has only worsened. Just a couple weeks ago President Obama signed a law letting gays openly serve in the military. Now this may or not be connected to that, but I think in the week after he signed that there were floods and mudslides in California, a terrible storm that dumped tons of snow in the east, an earthquake in Indiana, 20 tornadoes that killed 6 people in 4 Midwestern states, and in our part of the country, 2 back-to-back blizzards that caused a 100 car accident, lots of snowfall, and very icy roads.
I've also been thinking lately about how short life is. James 4:13-15 says, "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." The older I get, the faster life seems to go! I can't believe I'm going to be 21 this summer . . . WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?! Each day seems to zoom right by, and I am sobered to think that my life will be over before I know it, and only what's done for Christ will last!!!! As we look ahead on a new year, it's easy to think "I hope to be closer to God by the end of this year" or "I hope I accomplish this or that" but what are you doing each and every day to work towards your goal? When I was younger, I thought for sure by the time I was this OLD age I would be much farther along in my Christian walk. But now that I AM this old . . . wow, I sure have a LONG, LONG ways to go!
But, to end on a more cheerful note - God has been so faithful this year! I have seen Him work in so many ways and He has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. I pray that He will work through me this year and that with His help I will be able to live out my full potential for His glory!
When Sundar Singh was only 40 years old, he made another missionary journey into Tibet, but was never seen again. His life was dedicated to God and now He will be rejoicing and praising the Lord through all eternity - he was a good and faithful servant of Jesus Christ! Let us strive to do the same.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13
1 comment:
You're right about how fast time flies and how slow we are to submit our lives to Christ. I've been reading a biography of Matthew Henry (a pastor in England in the late 1600's) and am constantly amazed at how often he would mourn that he wasted so much time, that he was so unaffected by God's word. Here is a man who was looked up to by most of England's ministers as an exemplary man of God, and yet he felt he had so far to go in his faith! How much more, then, should I feel the same.
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