«Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘ The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches’ » (Matthew 13:31, 32).
ACCORDING TO JOHN STOTT, Nicolaus was just a teenager when he and five school friends founded a prayer group. They called it «The Order of the Mustard Seed.» Their main mission was to «take the gospel to the ends of the earth.» Their motto: «No one lives for himself.»
When the college years came, Nicolaus, giving in to family pressure, chose to study law at the University of Wittenberg. As soon as he graduated in 1719, he faced his first major test. It was customary among the nobles of the time for recent graduates to take a tour of the main cities of Europe. The goal was for young people to become «men of the world.» Nicolaus made his position clear. «If the goal [of this journey] ,» he said, «is to make me ‘a man of the world,’ I assure you, they will waste their money; because it is God’s will that I live only for Jesus Christ.»
And he lived for Jesus Christ, because Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf lived up to what John Stott said was his «unquestionable, unwavering, and enveloping devotion to the Lamb of God.» «I only have one passion,» Nicolaus declared, «it is He, only He.» A passion that began early in his life, and then deepened when, on a visit to Dusseldorf, he first saw the Italian Domenica Feti’s work Ecce Homo (Behold the Man). The painting shows Christ at the moment Pilate presented Him to the crowd, after He had been whipped, with the crown of thorns and the cloak of purple. The account says that young Nicolaus looked engrossed at’ the face of Christ while he read the words written at the bottom of the painting: «This I did for you; what are you doing for Me?»
In the years that followed, Zinzendorf used his wealth for the preaching of the gospel. His work had such a wide scope that, according to Ruth Tucker, no one made a greater contribution than he did during the 18th century to what would later be missionary societies.
Shortly after reading Count Zinzendorf’s story, I remembered the traditional hymn: «What are you doing for Jesus/as you journey tho’ life?/Sowing the grain for the harvest/Or scattering seeds of strife?»—Himnario adventista [Adventist hymnal] , ed. 2010, No. 557.
I could not help but ask myself this question: «What am I doing for Christ?»
Dear Jesus, I know I have not done much for You,
but today I want to give You my life.
Please use it according to Your will and for Your glory.
#AdultsDevotional
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate
