Perspective in the Christian life is everything. What is worth living for? My needs? My desires? Or is their something much greater to live for? Read this account of the life of Maria Dyer:
Maria Dyer was born in 1837 on the mission field in China where her parents were pioneer missionaries. Both her parents died when Maria was a little girl, and she was sent back to England to be raised by an uncle. The loss of her parents, however, did not deter her young heart from the importance of sharing the gospel. At age sixteen she, along with her sister, returned to China to work in a girl’s school as a missionary herself. Five years later, she married Hudson Taylor, a man well-known today for his life of ministry, faith, and sacrifice.
Hudson and Maria’s work was often criticized—even by other Christians. At one point Maria wrote, “As to the harsh judgings of the world, or the more painful misunderstandings of Christian brethren, I generally feel that the best plan is to go on with our work and leave God to vindicate our cause.” Of their nine
children, only four survived to adulthood. Maria herself died of cholera when she was just forty-three. But she believed the cause was worthy of the sacrifice. On her grave marker these words were inscribed: “For her to live was Christ, and to die was gain.”
We live in a self-absorbed, narcissistic culture. The center of the universe is self.
But, as a result of our salvation experience, we became new creations. “Old things passed away, and behold all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).
I John 2:17 reminds us, “ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Indeed, perspective is important. Will I be remembered for the sins I committed, or will I be remembered for the life I lived for CHRIST – and how He lived His life through me. One person said, “When we love GOD as we should, our interests/desires fade as we magnify Him.”
Paul the apostle best summed it up in Philippians 1:20-21: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also CHRIST shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For me to live is CHRIST, and to die is gain.”
Pastor Mike