On this date, 57 years ago, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Roger Youderain, and Ed McCully went into the jungles of Ecuador to preach the Gospel to an unreached people group and were martyred for what they believe.
They were missionaries, along with their wives and young families. Their deaths were written about in Life magazine and Elisabeth Elliot, Jim’s widow, wrote about his life and death in the book Through Gates of Splendor. The story was also made into a movie called End of the Spear.
Every year on this date I pause and remember their willingness to give everything to share Christ with those who had never heard His name. Their simple desire to “live a life worthy of the calling” (Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 1:10) challenges me to my core.
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10 NIV1984).
As a wife, mother and teacher, I am called to live a worthy life too. Just because I am not a missionary in the jungles of Ecuador or Africa doesn’t mean that verse doesn’t apply to me. In some ways, it applies to me even more. Every day, in the various tasks I perform, I am to “bear fruit in every good work.”
With every step I take I need to think, “Am I walking closer to Christ, or farther away from Him?” How about you? Where will your footprints lead and who are you leading?
Walk Worthy.
