Tuesday, July 26
Judson and Jesus
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12:3
Today’s Christians are in danger of losing their history. How few children now are taught the stories of our great pioneer missionaries—like Adoniram Judson, who became the first Protestant missionary sent out from North America. His life is stranger than fiction, and reading his biography makes us shudder one moment and praise God the next. Few have suffered as he did, and those who read his story wonder how he maintained sanity. Prison. Illness. Torture. Grief. The death of loved ones. The resistance of those in Burma whom he had come to reach. Yet for 37 years he persevered, and by the end of his ministry there were 63 churches in Burma, 163 other missionaries and helpers, and more than 7,000 baptized converts.
Judson once said, “In spite of sorrow, loss, and pain, our course by onward still; we sow on Burma’s barren plain, we reap on Zion’s hill.”
Let’s not shrink from the weariness, suffering, or toil of whatever life God has ordained for us. Let’s consider the heroes of our faith, count it all joy, and press on toward the prize.
Our prayers run along one road and God’s answers by another, and by and by they meet.
Adoniram Judson
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