Hudson Taylor 1

I am doing some reading in Spiritual Secrets - the life of Hudson Taylor - missionary. It is one of the best missionary biographies...in the same ballpark as Jim Elliot's and Adoniram Judson's. Good stuff - for anyone - not just people who want to be missionaries. But, I find it convicting and compelling. Here is one quote that helped me again view the weekend in light of the hard time of ministry that it was.
"The inconsistencies of Christian people who, while professing to believe the Bible, were yet content to live just as they would if there were no such book, had been one of the strongest arguments of my skeptical companions, and I frequently felt at that time, and said, that if I pretended to believe the Bible I would at any rate attempt to live by it, putting it fairly to the test, and if it failed to prove true and reliable, would throw it overboard altogether. These views I retained when the Lord was pleased to bring me to Himself. And I think I may say that since then I have put God's Word to the test. Certainly it has never failed me. I have never had reason to regret the confidence I have placed in its promises or to deplore following the guidance I have found in its direction."
The Bible is our pattern - our plumb line - we are called to be holy. How do we do that - by living by what it says. I failed in so many ways this weekend - I do every day. Yet - by grace and through compassion - I am called to get up everyday and still seek the face of God and learn of His ways.