Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Spiritual Hall of Fame

George Muller, Hudson Taylor, and Oswald Chambers are all men of faith who were born in the 19th century.    Muller is remembered as a man whose ministry provided orphanage homes for homeless children.  He never asked anyone for financial help, but, instead, when there was a need, he prayed asking God to provide.  Always God provided.   Taylor, another Englishman, was called by God to go to China as a missionary and is the man used by God to open that land to the gospel.  When the need became too great, he prayed for missionaries and they came.  Oswald Chambers lived such a short life, but he  modeled what a life looks like when it is abandoned for God.  There is no way to even imagine the number of people who have had their lives changed by his devotional writing, "My Utmost for His Highest."
 
While some may think old age has caught up with me and I have forgotten that the last blog I wrote was about these three dead guys, such is not really the case.  Instead, as I reflect on the lives of these men of God whose faithful stories are associated with other centuries, I am truly amazed at their stories and I wonder where the Mullers, Taylors, and Chambers are in our day. I doubt any of these three thought their stories would be read and would inspire believers of a later century.  They simply lived in faithful obedience to the God who called them without ever considering future fame.  Surely, there are folks out there now who will be remembered in centuries to come as the great saints of God.  Perhaps, they are invisible to us who share time with them even as those who lived in the 19th century were unaware that great spiritual giants walked among them.
 
Still, it does cause some wonderings?  Who is serving God in such a way today that future generations will call their names?  Who is writing music today which will still be glorifying God two hundred years from now?  Who is writing books today which will lead men and women into a deeper spiritual life even though hundreds of years separate them from the author?  While it may be impossible for us to answer, I do wonder if anyone has a candidate to nominate for this spiritual hall of fame? 

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