Devotions
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He is No Fool
Besides the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, scarcely any folks have had such an influence in so brief a time as Jim Elliot. Six and a half decades ago, being just 29 years of age, he lost his life for the sake of the gospel. Jim Elliot and four other partners in the gospel had set out to an isolated and infamously brutal Huaorani tribe in Ecuador to share their faith. These men were soon murdered by those to whom they came to minister. Several years after the death of the men, the widow of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth, returned to Ecuador to live among the Huaorani. This eventually led to the conversion of many, including some of those involved in the killing. Elisabeth would later publish his journal, and its words of passion and commitment to Jesus have inspired many to pursue the great commission, whatever the price tag of cost or commitment. Jim Elliot famously wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim was a talented young gentleman who surely could have pursued many things with his life, and yet he took the road less travelled that many would consider foolish. It calls me to question, when was the last time I was called a fool for sharing my faith in Jesus? Here is another powerful but less known quote from Jim Eliot. “The world cannot hate us; we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!” To make an accurate assessment of myself, I am not too high up on the dangerous scale. My wife would say the only time I am dangerous is when I exercise my culinary skills in the kitchen. I love the quote from the former Anglican Bishop and theologian N.T. Wright. He says, “Wherever St. Paul went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea.” As we ponder Jim Elliot’s passion for Jesus and willingness to abandon everything, I think about the year ahead. What am I willing to venture to share Jesus with my sphere of influence? I close with this prayer from Jim Elliot. “Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” In His Steps, Pastor Donny
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AuthorNotes from the Staff @The Woods Archives
March 2023
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