The Call To Service
After a time, the first happy feeling of being born again passed away. This was followed by a painful dead feeling in my soul and considerable personal conflict.
But this also came to an end, leaving a deeper understanding of personal weakness and dependence on the Lord as the only Keeper and Saviour of His people. The calm rest of trusting in our kind Heavenly Father is so sweet to the soul that is tired and disappointed in its fight against sin.
Not many months after being born again, I had a free afternoon and went to my room to spend it in prayer with God. Well, do I remember that time? With a happy heart, I poured out my soul before God.
Again and again, I told Him of my thankful love to Him who had done everything for me. He had saved me when I had given up all hope and desire for salvation. I asked Him to give me some work to do for Him so that I could show my love and thankfulness. I needed some self-denying service, whatever it might be, however difficult or however unimportant.
He had done so much for me. I wanted to do something for Him with which He would be pleased. Having completely given myself to Him, I had put myself, my life, my friends, my all, on the altar.
A deep seriousness came over my soul with the understanding that my offering was accepted. God came to my heart in a very powerful way and I was only fifteen years old. I remember being there quietly before Him. His greatness was beyond my understanding and my heart filled with happiness.
For what service I was accepted, I did not know. Yet, a deep understanding came to me that I was no longer my own. This conviction has never weakened and has controlled my everyday life. Two or three years later, an unusually good offer was made for me to study medicine. The condition was that I worked for several years for the doctor who was my friend.
But I felt I should not accept any agreement like this, being not my own to give myself away. I did not know when or how He might call for service. I belonged to Him alone and felt the responsibility always to keep myself free to obey His call.
Only a few months after this, the understanding came into my soul that the Lord wanted me to serve Him in China. It seemed that the work to which I was called was almost sure to cost my life. China was not as open then as it is now. Very few missions had workers in China and there were very few books about bringing the Gospel to the people of this country.
I was happy to find that a pastor in my hometown was able to lend me a copy ofthe book China, written by Medhurst. He asked me why I wanted to read it. I told him that God had called me to spend my life in missionary service in that land. He asked about how I planned to go there. I said that I did not know, but it seemed that I should do as the Twelve and the Seventy had done in Judea and go without purse1 or scrip,2 trusting in God to provide all my needs.
Kindly putting his hand on my shoulder, the minister answered, “Ah, my boy, as you get older you will get wiser than that. This idea did very well in the days when Christ Himself was on earth, but not now.”
I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I believe more than ever that we should take as our guide, the directions of our Master and the promises He gave to His first disciples. We will find them to be just as true now as when the words were first spoken.
Medhurst’s book on China placed much value on medical work by missionaries which directed my thinking that skill in medicine would be a valuable tool to help spread the Gospel.
My parents gave me no direction in my decision to become a missionary. They told me that if mission work was my desire, I should use all the ways in my power to strengthen my body, mind, heart, and soul. I should wait prayerfully on God.
They advised that if He showed that I was mistaken, I should be willing to follow His directions. On the other hand, I should be ready to go forward if He opened the way to missionary service.
Since that time, I have often found this advice to be very true. I began training outdoors to strengthen my body. I stopped sleeping on my soft bed and tried to do away with many extra things that made life easy. I was preparing for a rougher life. As well, I made use of any chance to pass out Gospel tracts, teach Sunday school, and visit the poor and sick.
After a time of study at home, I went to Hull to begin medical training and became an assistant to a doctor who worked with the School of Medicine. He was also a doctor at several factories. Injured workers often came to our office, giving me the chance to see and carry out simple methods of surgery.
Here something happened that I must tell you about. Before leaving home, I thought of paying tithe from my pay or other income. I considered it wise to study the question with my Bible in hand before I went away from home. I was concerned that I might later find myself in a difficult situation that would effect my thinking and cause me to make a mistake.
I decided to give, for the Lord’s service, not less than one-tenth of whatever money I earned or came to me. With the pay I received as a medical helper in Hull, I would have been able to fulfill my plan very easily.
Because of changes in the family of my friend and employer, I had to find another place to live. A good place to stay was found with a family member. I was thankful that my pay included the amount to be paid for my room and food.
The question now came to mind, should I or not, tithe the amount I paid for room and food? This was a part of my pay.
If it had been a question of government income tax, I would certainly have to pay. On the other hand, to take a tithe from the whole amount would not leave me enough for other needs. For a short time, I was very ashamed and did not know what to do.
After much thought and prayer, I left this nice place and happy circle of family and found a small room near the edge of town. There was a sitting room and bedroom in one. I bought my food instead of being fed by the owner ofthe house.
In this way, I was able to tithe all of my income. I felt the change because it made me lonely and was not as nice. Yet, the Lord gave me much happiness for following His Word.
My new situation allowed more time than would have been possible before to study the Bible, visit the poor, preach, and witness. Meeting many people who were in need, I soon saw that it was good to find ways to spend even less. Soon, I did not find it difficult to give away much more than the tithe of my pay on which I had at first decided.
About this time, a friend called my thinking to the question of the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without comment, he gave me a list of Scriptures about it and asked me to think about the matter.
I gave much time to this study and was led to see that Jesus rose from the dead and was to come again. His feet would one day stand on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) and He would take the seat of government of his father David that was promised before His birth.
I saw that through the New Testament, the coming of the Lord was the great hope of His people. This hope was always held as the strongest reason for giving ourselves in service to God. The promise of His return brings great ease to our hearts and minds in times of trouble. I also learned that the time of his return was not shown.
Our responsibility is to live from day to day and from hour to hour, as men who wait for the Lord to return. Living like this, there is no worry about when He may come. The important thing is to be so ready for His coming that we are able, at any time, to give a report ofour lives with a heart full of happiness and not be ashamed.
The effect of this happy and great hope was a completely useful one. It led me to look carefully through my little collection of books to see if there were any that I no longer needed. In the same way, I examined my small collection of clothes to be very sure that I owned nothing that I would be sorry to have if the Master came at once.
The result was that the collection of books became much smaller than before. I gave them to help some poor people who lived nearby. For it, I received a great spiritual gain and happiness in my soul. I also found I had some clothing which others needed more than I did.
It has been very helpful for me to do this again and again. I have never looked through my house, from top to bottom, without receiving a great spiritual blessing. I believe we are all in danger of collecting things which would be useful to others, that we do not need. It may simply be the result of carelessness. Keeping these things causes us a loss of spiritual joy.
If all the materials of the Church of God were wisely used, how much more might be done for the Lord’s work? How many poor might be fed and the naked clothed? How many of those might hear who have not yet heard the Gospel Let me advise that we all look at our things in this way very often. This will be of great spiritual value when we can give our extra things away.