Tuesday, March 17, 2009

No ordinary Day...if the world only knew

Around the beginning of the 5th century, a young British boy was taken captive by men from Ireland. He was taken by these captives and sold into slavery. Forced to take care of pigs, he spent his days thinking of his home, his upbringing in the Lord and the time he had wasted serving God. So in those fields, he began to pray and seek the heart of God. He found himself praying over 100 times a day, and staying in constant communication with the Savior he had neglected in his youth. After about 6 years, God spoke to this young man in a dream. He told him to get up and travel 200 miles toward a ship...for he was going home.
When this young man made it home, he dedicated himself to the study of the word. And quickly became a bishop in his church. God coninued to visit this young man in his dreams. And every time, he would compare his conversations with the scripture and found a deep conection to his dreams and the will of God for his life.
It was one of these dreams that he was visited by the people of Ireland, calling him to return and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their country. And so, this young man returned to the place that had enslaved him and gave his life the spreading of the Gospel in the country of Ireland. Once a very wicked people, given over to killing their first born, and making anything they desired into a god to worship, they now had a widespread conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so, as the world celebrates with their shamrocks and Green beer, take heart in knowing, they are celebrating one of our earliest missionaries. Someone who loved his enemy. A man who followed God when the world said it was crazy. Who found meaning in his captivity and fell in love with his Savior. And who was the leader in changing a nations heart to serving the One True God.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.


don't forget to go visit my Tell Them Tuesday!

2 comments:

Brooke said...

I need to see you too! you little Anna is so big!

becky bell said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing!