Daily Devotional Copy

Boy, did we want that book to work! We hoped and wished and longed for it to work, but it didn’t. And what a lesson we learned.

It all started when we four 6th grade boys found an advertisement in the back of a kids magazine for a book that would make people do anything you wanted them to do. Even though it cost $50, we were sure it would be a better investment than the ads for "build your muscles like Mr. Universe” or “learn how to play guitar in 7 days” or even “learn how to look taller!” (all of these were designed to help us impress girls, of course!)

Anyway, we worked hard, redeeming every bottle we could find, running little carnivals in our backyard, doing extra chores for money – and we finally gathered the money and sent it away for our money-back guarantee book that would change our lives! We waited so impatiently, going to the mailbox every day for weeks. And one day, it arrived!

We read it voraciously (much more so than our Nathaniel Hawthorne story), and the concept was simple (no, I’m not going to tell you the secret, you have to buy your own book!). But when we tried it – and we each went through the steps so many times – it didn’t work!

Now why would I tell you such a silly story? It’s because I was re-reading a passage from an article by someone from Youth With a Mission (YWAM), and I was trying to remember a time when I wanted something like this. What do you think for yourself when you read it?

“If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining but devoted to spreading and proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame on the earth. The Father's passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God, and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, and the angels applaud you. Your greatest dream is that His name will be praised in languages never before heard in heaven. Your reward is the look of pure delight you anticipate seeing in His eyes when you lay [it all] at His feet ....”

New International Version (NIV)
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