Your Daily Devotional for January 5, 2007

 

January 5, 2007

 

 

An Enduring Soldier

Revival Readings for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

2 Timothy 2:3

William Booth traveled for a while as a minister in London, but felt God wanted him to do more for the ordinary people, so he resigned his position to preach to people on the streets. After preaching a series of meetings in a large tent, Booth decided to start his own movement called “The Christian Mission.”

Slowly the mission began to grow, but the work was hard. According to his wife, Booth would “stumble home night after night, haggard with fatigue, often his clothes were torn, and bloody bandages swathed his head where a stone had struck.” Evening meetings were held in an old warehouse where young boys threw stones and fireworks through the window. Outposts were eventually established and in time attracted converts, yet the results remained discouraging—this was just another of the 500 charitable and religious groups trying to help in the east end of London.

It was not until 1878, when the Christian Mission changed its name to the Salvation Army, that things began to happen. The momentum changed. The idea of an army fighting against sin caught the imagination of the people and the army began to grow rapidly. Booth’s fiery sermons and sharp imagery drove the message home and more and more people found themselves willing to leave their pasts behind and start a new life as a soldier in the Salvation Army.

Many times we long for revival but never stop to think of the price that must be paid. We must empty our lives of anything that would hinder God from working in us. Then we must wholly yield ourselves to Him and ask Him to change our lives through revival. Seek God today and ask Him to begin a revival in your heart.

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