“God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.”
One half of a prayer request was answered on May 21, 1832, when James Hudson Taylor was born. Prior to his birth, his parents had prayed, “God, if You should give us a son, grant that he may work for You in China.” God gave Mr. and Mrs. Taylor a son, but would he ever go to China?
As a young boy, Taylor learned about China from his father who read him stories from a family book. He decided he wanted to live overseas someday, but China was a long way from his home and from his parents in England.
At age 17 – after a brief time of teenage rebellion – Hudson Taylor trusted in Jesus Christ to be His Lord and Savior. He went on to study banking and medicine, but he found no satisfaction in these career paths. Could it be that God really did want him to go to China?
Taylor eventually embraced what he came to believe was God’s call on his life; and in 1853, he began his six-month voyage to Shanghai, China. During his 51 years on the mission field, he became the most widely-used missionary in the entire country. His goal was to make sure every province in China heard the Gospel. Over time, God used Hudson Taylor and the ministries he began to bring over 35,000 people to Himself.
He often said, “If I had 1,000 lives, I’d give them all for China.”
We joke about cats having nine lives, but what if it were true that we could have more than 1, or 9? or if we could really have 1,000 lives to live on Earth? If you had 1,000 lives, how would you spend them? Would you play extreme sports (since if you were hurt, you would know you’d always have another chance)? Would you be lazy (knowing you would have plenty of time to work hard later on)?
The truth is, each of us will have only one life to live. What will you do with yours? Would you willingly devote every day and hour and minute to God’s glory and spreading the Gospel of Jesus?
Psalm 16:11 – You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.