Week 3 November 2025, Devotion Part 1

Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips… and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote; therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people…  Isaiah 29:13-14

Something good can be said for the grumpy son who disgraced his generous father. His many days of labor in the field provided the bountiful food served at that lavish homecoming party. Too bad the hard worker did not have a field day. The dictionary defines it as a gala day full of pleasurable activity, celebration, or excitement; also a day full of opportunity for success or satisfaction. It was Thanksgiving Day for sure in that home, even if the fatted calf, not a turkey, reported to the cook. “My son was dead, and is alive again,” the overjoyed father exclaimed over and over again. “He was lost, and he is found,” his guests repeated to each other. Their mouths were filled with the sweet taste of God’s grace. Perhaps they even “said grace” with their music and dancing.

Jesus assured His disciples that the fields were ripe for harvest. Pentecost was a harvest festival. On that day three thousand souls turned from their sin to the Savior. They were the “First Fruits,” as our Sunday school children learn. The Holy Spirit keeps tugging at their young hearts on the Lord’s behalf. Laborers are perennially in short supply, but Jesus would rather have a few goofy passionate kids join the ranks than hordes of grudgingly persuaded adults. What if the church sold them on the global mission field as a grand faith adventure, such as pioneered and documented by the likes of famed Hudson Taylor and Gladys Aylward. God called him to China at age 17. She worked as a lowly parlor maid and saved her money to purchase her one-way train ticket to China at age 28.  I was privileged to meet Gladys and shake her hand in Hollywood where she was visiting churches. 20^th Century Fox film premiered “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” based [loosely] on her story in 1958. Hudson Taylor left England for China as a highly educated physician, then chose to dress and shave his head like the locals, upsetting many Westerners. Gladys was tasked with unbinding the feet of Chinese women; the male-dominated culture had demanded that torture to keep them sexy dainty.  Part 1 of 2

Comment:  When I was 16, I met relatives who had been long-time missionaries in China. They told no spellbinding tales or mentioned the infamous Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Instead, they set a thick slice of gooey cake before me when I had no sweet tooth at all.  Afterward I drank water from a nearby river polluted by factory waste and that didn’t kill me either.  While in my teens, God called me to America and I resolutely boarded that Swissair plane at 21, having no inkling what kind of “mission field” He had in mind.  A writer from early on, He first “converted” my flawless German and French into competent American English. Then he promoted me to bookkeeper for 3 decades.  The only nimble thing I have at 90 are my fingers.  They’re having a field day right now!