TRANSFORMATION FROM A SINNER TO A “SLAVE”
December 19, 2024THE LORD HIMSELF IS OUR KEEPER
December 19, 2024What the world misses, and the Bible knows, is that, the problem with man is not his mind, nor his stomach, and not even his circumstances; the problem with man is his heart. If one wants to change or transform the man, one needs to change his heart.
Honestly speaking, the heart of man cannot be changed or transformed by, laws and resolutions. It does not work that way. Also, man’s heart cannot be transformed by himself, how much ever he may desire so. The only way to the transformation of man’s heart is with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Only He can bring about tangible, transformative and lasting change. James Denney puts across this thought excellently in the following words…
– “No one who saw Paul’s ministry, and looked at a preacher like Paul, could dream that, the explanation lay in him. Not in an ugly little Jew, without presence, without eloquence, without the means to bribe or to compel, could the source of such courage, the cause of such transformation, be found. It must be sought not in him, but in God.”
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, the famous Norwegian missionary, is one such example. He was a terribly bad person. He was not only reformed, but is transformed to live a life, that impacted many people, who are thousands of miles aways from his native land. This was possible because of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was a convicted criminal, a thief, serving three years of prison time. He encounters the LORD Jesus through the prayers and persistent efforts of his friend Anna Olsum, whom he marries latter. He burned with passion, to serve His Redeemer, as a missionary. Norwegian Missionary Society rejected him, because of his past. Johannes Gossner, the founder of Gossner Mission Society, with Baptist ideas, believed Skrefsrud, and took him on their staff.
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud goes to India in 1863, as a missionary to the Santhal people. Skrefsrud translates the Bible into the Santal language, and produces a hymnal for them, using the native tunes. He also wrote textbooks, publishes a book of traditional Santal myths, founded schools, that taught farming, animal care, and carpentry. He establishes a church the Santalese could run themselves. By his death, there were fifteen thousand or more Santal Christians.
Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, is one of the few and rare, Christian missionaries, who was interested in preaching the gospel, and not anything else. It speaks of his matured manner of handling inter-cultural issues, as a cross-cultural missionary.
– “It is the heathenism that we want to get rid of, not the national character. We will distinguish between Christianity and European forms of civilisation; the first we will give them in their own vessels, and the second we will leave in Europe.”
The transformative power of the LORD Jesus Christ is visible for all to see. This is possible because, only the God Almighty has the solution to the problem that plagues man. All other offers of a solution, is nothing but mere pretentions, which are of no use, whatsoever. Have we tasted the transformative power of the LORD Jesus Christ? Are our lives certainly touched by the LORD? Do our lives display, a clear and definite turn-around, in our thoughts, words and deeds? If no, seek the LORD dear friend. If yes, Soli Gloria Deo!!!
