Following Christ
"Another disciple said to him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.'
But Jesus told him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'" -
Matthew 8:21-22
By the time he was in his sixties, former missionary to Indonesia and India
Hubert Mitchell had memorized the entire New Testament. In his golden years, he
spent his days in downtown Chicago, going from office building to office
building. Inside he would ask secretaries if he could have five minutes with
their boss to talk about a personal matter.
Frequently he would be ushered into the boss's office, and he would say, "I only
have five minutes, but I want to ask you, did you read your Bible before you
came to work this morning?"
The boss would look at him as if he were crazy, and say, "No."
Hubert would smile and answer, "Sir, you sure missed a blessing, didn't you? I'd
just like to share with you what God spoke about to me in the Bible this
morning."
He would open a New Testament and hand it to the boss, and say, "Let's start
right here." Then Hubert would sit back and start quoting it word for word. The
boss would listen, amazed.
After five minutes, Hubert would say, "My time's up and I've got to go. Wasn't
that a blessing?"
On most occasions the boss would ask him to stay longer, and they would talk.
Hubert Mitchell led men to Christ all over downtown Chicago that way, because
God's word was burning in his heart.
When we stop chasing the "American Dream" and start following Christ, we find
everything our heart desires. Today in prayer, spend some extra time reading in
the book of Matthew and desiring Christ with all your heart.
"The strength and happiness of a man consists in finding out the way in which
God is going, and going that way too." - Henry Ward Beecher
God's Word: "He said to another man, 'Follow me.' But the man replied, 'Lord,
first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their
own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 9:59-60
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2004, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN MATTHEW
pkennedy6@yahoo.com