Come Follow me

God lives and works today, but He can only work when our hearts are open and when we don't stand in His way. Yes, whoever wants God to do great things in his life must first be willing to go in a new direction. Today's meditation by Basilea Schlink is a testimony which throws light on what this direction is.

What does it mean to become a conqueror in our everyday lives? A minister tells in the story of his life how during the war, at a military hospital, he had to do orderly work and clean the nurses' rooms and get their breakfast ready. Although a new nurse came, they still made him wait on them till he became annoyed one day and thought, that settles that. I'll tell them they can get their own breakfast.

I'll not wait on them. He was experiencing what is so often our difficulty in daily life, at work and at home, when we are together with people who try to exploit us. We know from experience that for quite a time we can stand this, but in our hearts, anger and rage build up, and then comes a time when, like the minister, we decide that we've just had enough and from now on we'll stand it no longer.

But what happened to the minister? On the very morning when he made his decision, he received a postcard which said, Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. He was deeply moved after reading God's word on the postcard and praying about it, and he decided to turn to the way of the Lamb again. And so, with special love and care, he got the breakfast ready for the nurses.

There was a great astonishment among them. What made you change your mind, they asked. Well, answered the minister with humor, I want to be chief.

And the Bible says, Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. On the next day, all wanted to help. How did this change between the minister and his fellow men come about? He didn't do anything differently from what he had done before, yet everything had changed entirely.

Now he had joyfully decided to choose consciously the way of the Lamb. His selfishness melded away, and his ego was no longer fed. He no longer wanted to be thought important and to stand up for his rights.

His desire was to be meek like Jesus. And strangely enough, whereas before the minister's heart was smarting and angry, now everything was wonderfully resolved. From this moment on, joy and peace lived in his heart instead of selfish pride.

If only we would realize what power lies in sacrifice. The way of the Lamb is the way of sacrifice through which world-shaking powers proceed from us. Oh, that we would hear the loving call of Jesus, Come, follow me on the way of the Lamb, and you will become a conqueror in your everyday life.

You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet.

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