12), reflecting the truths of our faith (v. God’s grace helps us live “self-controlled, upright and godly lives” (v.
Yet we don’t do this on our own strength. In Paul’s letter to Titus, the young gentile leader who was taking care of the church in Crete, the apostle said that living like Christ is crucial because it can make the gospel “attractive” (Titus 2:10). From once being called “foreign devil” by those who distrusted foreigners, Nelson Bell later became known as “the Bell who is Lover of the Chinese People.” His daughter Ruth was to later marry the evangelist Billy Graham.Īlthough Nelson was a brilliant surgeon and Bible teacher, it wasn’t his skills that drew many to Jesus, it was his character and the way he lived out the gospel. Nelson, together with his family, lived in the area for twenty-four more years, running the hospital, performing surgeries, and sharing the gospel with thousands of people. And yet here he was in China as the new superintendent of the Love and Mercy Hospital, the only hospital in an area of at least two million Chinese residents. At only twenty-three years of age, Nelson had just graduated from medical school in his native Virginia. His frailty made him the perfect person for Jesus to use. But if they were naturally weak, all the glory for their perseverance would go to Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:26–31). If he and Jeremiah had been naturally strong, they might have received some of the praise for their success. 14, 18).Įventually Drew was released, but through his ordeal he began to understand that perhaps God chose him-much like He chose Jeremiah-because he was weak. “Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (vv. “Cursed be the day I was born!” Jeremiah said. His word had only “brought me insult and reproach all day long” (v. The prophet believed God had failed to deliver. Jeremiah blamed God: “You deceived me, Lord” (v. But God’s judgment hadn’t fallen yet, and Judah’s leaders beat Jeremiah and put him in stocks. This was not an accident.”ĭrew could likely relate to the prophet Jeremiah, who had faithfully served God by warning Judah that God would punish them for their sins. He’d read stories of missionaries who felt constant joy throughout their incarceration, but he confessed “this was not my experience.” He told his wife that God had picked the wrong man to suffer for Him.
Drew had been imprisoned for two years because he served Jesus.
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