«Let no one despise your youth» (l Timothy 4:12).
JOHN WANTED TO BE A PREACHER of the gospel, but he was sick with malaria. Then he made a covenant with God: if God healed him, he would dedicate his life to preaching the Word. The next day, Norma J. Collins tells us, the fever disappeared.
Now it was John’s turn to keep his part of the pact. But how would he do it, without money or clothes? When John felt strong enough to work, he cut firewood for a neighbor. That’s how he made his first dollar. Upon learning that John wanted to preach the Word, this same neighbor gave him presentable clothing. But the clothes were too big. So John cut them down to his size.
John was ready to preach. That’s when Caleb Broughton, a family friend, visited him to ask what plans he had for the winter. When Mr. Broughton learned that John wanted to go to Rochester to preach, a broad smile spread across his face.
«John,» Mr. Broughton told him, «one day I went to visit your father when you were only two years old. You played with some wooden blocks while your father talked about the dreams he had for your brothers. Then I asked him what he expected from you. He said, ‘This little boy is going to sound the trumpet of the gospel.’ »
With that said, he gave John three dollars, «to cover his expenses.»
On January 2, 1849, at a Baptist church in Kendall Corners, New York, John preached his first sermon. For two nights, the seventeen-year-old preacher dressed «in funny clothes,» preached with power, always citing the Bible as his source of information. The impact was such that the pastor of the church decided to end the meetings, claiming that the venue would be used in the following nights for singing classes. People didn’t believe him. Then one of the attendees offered the school headquarters for the meetings to continue, and so they continued over the next five nights.
The next day, one of the local ministers challenged John. The challenge was that he could show in the Bible that the dead go directly to heaven, and that he could read it in Revelation 25.
«There are only twenty-two chapters in Revelation,» John replied respectfully. «Your text is three chapters ‘outside’ the Bible.»
Nervously, the man searched for the text in the Bible. Not being able to find it, he said he had a citation, and «got lost from the map.»‘
The young man in our story is John Loughborough, a powerful preacher and chronicler of the beginnings of our church. His experience reminds us that no one should belittle us because we are young; and it shows us all the good things that can happen when young people and adults devote themselves completely to God.
Enable me, dear Lord, to understand Your Word and to share it with those who do not know You.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate
