Weekend Words

 From More Letters from Ruth's Attic...

Offering Christ

"Many will see it and fear, and trust in the Lord." - Psalm 40:3

Pashi was a student in our local college.  He was from India, and when presented with the claims of Christ, Pashi's devastating reply was: "I would like to believe in Christ.  We of India would like to believe in Christ.  But we have never seen a Christian who was like Christ."

Come to think of it, neither have I.

We believers are all merely pilgrims in progress, encumbered with disagreeable genes, trying - and in the process being found 'trying indeed."  The very term Christlike is confusing.  In what way are we to be like Him?  In His ability to heal, to teach, to cast out demons?  To face His accusers silently?

I think the term has to do with Christ's attitude towards His Father's will.

"I delight to do thy will" (Psalm 40:8, KJV).

Whatever the true meaning, I was feeling we Christians had let the Lord down.  I decided to call our co-worker and friend, Dr. Akbar Haqq, a brilliant Christian who once was president of the Henry Martyn School of Islamic Studies in New Delhi.

"How would you answer Pashi?"  I asked him.

"I would tell him, 'I'm not offering you Christians,' " Akbar answered decisively.  " 'I am offering you Christ.' "

Prayer for the Day: Lord Jesus, I want to be like you in all that I do, but I also want to remember that it is You people need, not my weak imitation of You.  Help those I know to see and receive You in spite of me.

From Our Daily Bread Classic Gems...

The Father's Faithfulness - Read: Psalm 107:1-16

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail ... great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

Missionary Hudson Taylor, the humble servant of God to China, demonstrated extraordinary trust in God's faithfulness.  In his journal he wrote: "Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One.  He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning ... He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years.  We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all ... Depend on it, God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply."

We may be faint and weary, but our heavenly Father is all-powerful.  Our feelings may fluctuate, but He is unchangeable.  Even creation itself is a record of His steadfastness.  That's why we can sing these words from a hymn by Thomas Chisholm: "Summer and winter, springtime and harvest, sun. moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

What an encouragement to live for Him!  Our strength for the present and hope for the future are not based on the stability of our own perseverance, but on the fidelity of God.  No matter what our need, we can count on the Father's faithfulness.

Reflect and Pray: Thank You, Lord, that we can trust in Your faithful presence at all times.  Help us to wait patiently for You to manifest Your steadfast loving presence.

The best reason for hope is God's faithfulness.

- Paul Van Gorder