I have a shelf just above the top of my desk computer monitor where I've taped inspirational sayings and “don't forget!!!!” reminders. I've recently added this quote. The author, John Wesley, of course figured significantly in the revival of Christianity after the Dark Ages. I found this Wesley quote in Unto the Hills by the late Billy Graham, whose ministry (like that of Wesley in the 1700s) was a beacon of Biblical truth for our times.
What's unsettling about Wesley's creed was its compulsion to
give one's all to Jesus—by all means, in all places, all times, to all people,
as long as life allows. To reduce it to a shorter version: “Always glorify
Him.”
This of
course, runs counter to the temper of our times which emphasizes glorifying the
Big Me. Our culture “crowns” people with honors and trophies and, yes, also "crowns"—from rhinestone crowns set on the heads of community festival “queens,” to the heavy,
bejeweled ones on people considered “royal” by centuries of lineage.
I have "crowning honors," so to speak, on the wall near my writing area. They're framed honor certificates related to writing. Even though I consider myself a “small pea in the patch” of publishing, it meant something to be so honored. But as I dust the tops of their frames, I realize they won't mean much to my children after I pass away and they're tasked with “gettin' rid of stuff” (as I had to do with my parents' possessions).
Instead I anticipate my audience with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Prince of Peace, who will assess my life's real impact. That's scary, yet motivating. In that celestial moment, I hope my focus is on His hands, mutilated by the nails that impaled Him on a crude cross. For He, alone, is the One who while on earth did all the good He could—by all means, all ways, all places, all times, to all people....
Inspiring words. Humbling. And motivating.
(1) Quoted in Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Devotional
Treasury (Word Publishing, 1986), p.
219.
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