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It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China.
With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord
Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need
rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at
home.
Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China for 51 years
Forty days, the length of time from the crucifixion to the ascension. Time Jesus knew needed to be time well spent. Talking about important things, doing things that mattered, making a difference in peoples lives, a real, life altering difference, not just a temporary ‘feel better’ difference. When you know you have a very short amount of time with someone and you have something very important, even life changing to tell them, you choose your words carefully and you do not waste time.
Jesus had forty days to drive home the message, to get to the bottom line, and these are some of the words He chose:
— Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, Mark 16:15
— Go and make disciples of all nations, Matt 28:19
— Repentance and forgiveness of sin will be preached to all nations, Luke 24:46
— You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth, Acts 1:8
— As the Father sent me, I am sending you, John 20:21
Five small passages with huge implications. Seemingly insignificant to many of us who do not feel “called” to missions. Pondering the quote from Hudson Taylor, I’m wondering if perhaps we should petition our Father for an excused absence before we set aside the notion of going.
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