Difference-Maker
Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” ~ Matthew 9:37,38 (NLT)
Eric Liddell is probably most remembered for being the central character in the biographical movie, Chariots of Fire. The movie focuses on Eric’s quest to win track and field gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics. His race of choice was the 100m sprint. However, when he discovered that this race was to be held on a Sunday, he switched to the 400m because he did not wish to run on the Lord’s Day. In the end, he would win gold in the 400m and set an Olympic record in the process!
Yet, it is not for his Olympic conquests that I bring him up in this devotional. It is for what occurred well after the spotlight left him. In 1925, he moved with his wife to China to enter missionary work. His desire to see the Chinese people come to Christ was so great that even after the Japanese invaded in the late 1930s, Eric refused to leave.
For the next few years, Liddell ministered diligently to the streams of refugees who came to his rural mission station. In 1943, however, the Japanese made it to that station as well. He was quickly interred as a prisoner of war. While in the prison camp, he continued to minister to his fellow internees as well as to the Japanese guards. He would die of brain tumor while in prison.
Liddell was not going to let anything keep him from working to bring in a harvest of lost souls. Today, in our culture, there seems to be a plentiful harvest but few reapers. Yet, Christians have been commissioned to the high task of being co-laborers with God.
In so many areas, the harvest is ripe for picking. Are you ready to go into those fields?
