LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Living with a Single Goal
"I press on, to see if I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12).
In 1886, Irish missionary Robert Thomas learned that the Korean language was similar to Chinese. Since he had a burden for the Korean people, he wondered if they could read the literature he had used in China. So he loaded up several Bibles and Christian books and set sail for Korea. Shortly before the ship reached Korean shores, a conflict broke out on board between Americans and natives. In the midst of the battle, the ship was set on fire and everyone was killed except Robert Thomas, who was able to reach shore with the Bibles and other books he had been able to salvage.
The local people had not only seen the ship from the shore, but also his efforts to reach it. Enraged, they beat Thomas to death. They didn't know what they were doing, but that's how the first Bible hit Korea. Thomas was 26 years old. The missionary's short life, and his noble sacrifice on behalf of an entire nation, merit more than a brief reflection.
The mid-twenties in a person's life are the age when the dreams of youth begin to be realized. The world offers itself with its wide range of life models, embodied in the men of the past and present. Life opens up in thousands of paths that invite the young person to travel them. For Robert Thomas, however, there was only one dream, one model, one path.
Thomas's calling was felt very early, and he set about fulfilling it with all his might. It is admirable to see how a young man of 26 had such a clear vision, and also had the courage to fulfill it so far from his family and his country. He knew how to measure in the scales of the sanctuary what the actions of men weigh.
He could have been successful in the world, but he would have been a failure to God. He could have gone into business and amassed a fortune, but he would have been a miser to God. He could have let his life pass languidly and long, until he became a venerable old man, but his many days would have given him no great satisfaction.
The goal of every Christian is to "lay hold of that" for which he was "laid hold of by Christ Jesus". What is "that" in our case? Is it to go far away to evangelize heathen tribes, or to help others to go? Is it to preach the Word to multitudes, or to whisper our testimony in the ear of those closest to us? Is it the great there, or the small here? Will our great work take only a few days or a lifetime? It does not matter what it is, nor how long it takes; what matters is to grasp that for which we were grasped by Jesus Christ.
This should be our only food, our watchfulness and goal. Nothing should take us away from this objective, when our race would be finished and our eyes could close in peace. Robert Thomas gives us a clear example of this.