Following Jesus means leaving somethings behind

In 21^st -centuryAmerica with all of its amenities, finding Christians living out their relationship with Christ at the highest level is not an easy thing. As we go back in history though, it is not as difficult to find these individuals.

C.T. Studd was born into a wealthy family, was reportedly handsome, and was an international legend as a sports hero in England. However, when his brother George fell deathly ill he writes that “honor and riches and pleasures had become as nothing to my brother. He only cared about the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ; and God taught me the same lesson.”

C.T. Studd left it all – the fame and the fortunes for the foreign mission field. First in China with the Cambridge Seven. Six other young men of the same affluence, who arrived inChina, put on Chinese clothes, and with pigtails and shaven heads marched into the “up-country” of China. They wrestled long and hard to master the Chinese language, and before long they began to see many come to Christ.

But the country of Chinawas not enough, and so C.T. Studd began to pursue Africa. He founded the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC), and after a recruiting tour to the universities ofAmerica, he plunged into the ministry in Africa whole-heartedly. Upon his death two-thousand tribesman stood in the pouring rain for hours to attend his funeral.

 For C.T. Studd becoming a missionary meant leaving fame, wealth, and family. It meant going to a foreign country (before the days of instant E-mails). Learning their language and their culture. And all of this because he recognized that people without Jesus Christ needed to be introduced to Him. It is more than a little humbling to realize that heaven will be populated with people who have that level of commitment. Why study men and women like that? Because it introduces us to people whose love for the Lord surpasses our own, and it challenges us to live differently as a result