I have read how Dwight L. Moody told about a young man who was called to serve in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army but didn’t want to go. A friend volunteered to go in his place and was accepted as his substitution. Unfortunately, the friend was later killed in battle.

However, because of a clerical error the same young man was called up to serve again. “You can’t take me. I’m dead. I died on the battlefield,” he told the astonished officers.

After checking the records, the officers found documentation of his name and alongside it the name of the friend who died in his place. The case was presented to Napoleon who, after examining the evidence, said, “Through a surrogate, this man has not only fought, but has died in his country’s service. No man can die more than once; therefore the law has no claim on him.”

And that’s exactly what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did for you and me. He died in our place to pay the just penalty for all our sins so we could be freely forgiven and given the gift of eternal life. When we accept God’s pardon, we will never have to pay the price for our sins because Jesus did that for us. He was our surrogate.

The critical question is have you accepted God’s pardon? If not, for help be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Christian.” Click on the Know God link below or go to: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear Jesus God, thank you again for being my surrogate and dying on the cross in my place so that I will never have to pay the ultimate penalty for my sin—eternal death and separation from you. Because you died for me please help me to always live for you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 5:7-8 (NIV).

Patricia Saint John wrote about Mary, an English nurse who at the time was working in a mission clinic in an Arab country. “One morning she and her assistant, Fatima, needed to travel eight miles to another village. They caught a bus that was going in their direction. But after a few miles, the bus driver passed their stop and kept on driving. The bus driver ignored the women’s pleas to return to the road that led to their village. Mary became upset, but Fatima remained calm, recalling their morning prayers asking for God’s guidance.

“Finally, the bus stopped at the foot of a hill, many miles from Mary’s and Fatima’s homes. At this stop, there was an old woman with a baby in her arms. She walked up to Mary and presented the baby to her. The poor child had a severe eye infection and needed immediate medical attention to save her eyes.

“Mary asked the old woman how she knew to find help here so far from the main village. The old woman replied that a man had come to her in a dream and told her that the English nurse would be waiting at the end of this road the next day. Mary and Fatima had made no plans to come anywhere near this village. They couldn’t have anticipated that a rude bus driver would leave them many miles from their designated stop. Yet God had told this desperate woman where to find them. Mary treated the baby’s eyes; within days the infection was gone. Later, Mary and Fatima had the opportunity to give their Christian testimony to many people in that village because of their meeting with the old woman and the baby.”²

Years ago I had a similar experience and, though not quite as dramatic, it helped change a major course in my life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I trust in you with all my heart and continually commit my life and way to you, you do direct my path. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV).

2. Patricia Saint John in Finding God Between a Rock and a Hard Place, compiled by Lil Copan and Elisa Fryling (Wheaton, IL.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1999), pp. 106-110. Cited on www.sermons.com.

Bridge builder, Charles Eliet, had a contract to build a suspension bridge across the Niagara River. One of the first problems he faced was how to stretch his first cable across the wide expanse of raging waters. If a boat tried to cross the river it would be swept over the falls. Eliet thought of a simple idea. If a kite could be flown to the opposite bank using a light cord, a stronger cord could be attached and pulled across, and then a stronger cord pulled across and so on until a cable could be attached and drawn across.

Eliet called for a kite flying contest and a young man named Homan Walsh succeeded on his second attempt. Charles Eliet’s simple plan worked and the bridge was built.

In life some of us often feel we don’t have a very important role to play. What we do seems so insignificant. It isn’t so. Every Christian has an important part to play. It all adds up in the numerous “little things” we are called to do every day.

Jesus started spreading the gospel to the whole world by simply sending his disciples out two by two! So, never underestimate the importance of what God has called you to do. The important thing is to keep at it—day by day!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you use ordinary people like me to do your work on earth. Help me to realize that my part—no matter how small—is a vital part of the whole picture. Help me always to be faithful and responsible, and never let down on doing my part. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 6:7 (NIV).

Did you ever stop to think how very important you are in God’s economy and his plans? Pretty much throughout the entire Bible when God had a work to be done, he chose and called an individual to lead. True he chose the nation of Israel to be his special people, but he chose individuals to lead this nation to do his work. God also has a place for you and me in his plan. It may not be a gigantic role, but it is an important one.

Think of the twelve disciples, for example, who were all a vital part of God’s mission. Half of them never said anything that is recorded in the New Testament. And if I remember correctly, three of them said only a word or two that was recorded. And Andrew, who didn’t have much to say, brought Peter, who became the early church leader and evangelist, to Jesus. Andrew was also the one who brought the boy with the two loaves and fishes to Jesus that Jesus used to feed the multitude. It was only Peter, James, Matthew and John that we heard much from, but every one of Jesus’ disciples had an equally important role to play in God’s program.

Whether your task is great or small, God wants to use you to be a part of his plan in what he is doing in your world today. All we need is to be available. Remember, as an anonymous poet wrote:

One song can spark a moment,

One flower can wake the dream.

One tree can start a forest,

One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship,

One handclasp lifts a soul.

One star can guide a ship at sea,

One word can frame the goal.

One vote can change a nation,

One sunbeam lights a room.

One candle wipes out darkness,

One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey,

One word must start each prayer.

One hope will raise our spirits,

One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom,

One heart can know what’s true.

One life can make the difference,

You see it’s up to you!

In the words of Edward Everett Hale: “I am only one. But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the Something that I can do.”

Don’t ever forget how very important you are, not only to your loved ones, your work, but also to God. Remember, too, “if it’s going to be, it will be up to you and me!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available, please use me to be a part of your plan and what you are doing in the world in which I live. Use me to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to make a difference in someone’s life today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 1:40-42 (NIV).

A Daily Encounter reader writes, “We are doing a Bible study on spiritual gifts. Do you have any ideas on how Christians can become more spiritual in their everyday living, and what constitutes a spiritual person?

First, to be genuinely spiritual we need to have a strong desire for this and be fully committed to it, because authentic spirituality doesn’t come naturally to most of us. The half-hearted never make it.

Second, ask God to give you the desire to be all that he has planned for you to be and the desire to do what he wants you to do.

Third, it is very helpful to pray every day, committing our life and way to God, including a prayer such as that of Jabez:

“Oh that you would bless me wonderfully,

Please be with me in everything I do

Greatly expand my [Christian] borders, and

Keep me from all evil, harm and disaster.”²

Fourth, also pray every day telling God that you are available and ask him to use you to be “as Jesus” in some way to every life you touch.

Fifth, know what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches so you know what to believe and how to live. Strive with God’s help to always live in harmony with God’s will as taught in his Word. To do this you need to read and study God’s word regularly, if not daily.

Sixth, maintain strong connections with fellow Christians to help support and encourage each other in your Christian walk.

Seventh, be faithful in worship in your church and in service to others, using the spiritual gift/s that God has given to you. Remember, too, that while using spiritual gifts is very important, having these gifts is not the measure of spirituality. The real test is the test of love. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “If I speak in the tongues [languages] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal…. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be an authentic Christian and be genuinely spiritual in a quiet, down to earth, and humble way. Help me to know what my spiritual gifts are, and find a way to use them where you can best use me—and always serve and act in a genuine spirit of love. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Colossians 3:1-3 (NLT).

2. See 1 Chronicles 4:10.

3. Corinthians 13:1, 13 (NIV).

Flack (strong negative criticism) is a normal part of front line action. Whenever a person invests his or her life in a worthwhile cause and does a good job, people who oppose him or her, or feel threatened or jealous, will inevitably criticize what he or she is doing. The Apostle Paul’s life was a prime example. The point is flack is a part of the price of leadership. If we don’t want any flack, all we need to do is keep the status quo, don’t rock the boat, be politically correct, or stay at home. But safety is not the way of investing your life in a worthwhile cause. As one anonymous poet wrote:

I would rather stumble a thousand times

Attempting to reach a goal,

Than to sit in a crowd

In my weather-proof shroud,

A shriveled and self-satisfied soul.

I would rather be doing and daring

All of my error-filled days,

Than watching and waiting, and dying

Smug in my perfect ways.

I would rather wonder and blunder,

Stumbling blindly ahead,

Than for safety’s sake

Least I make a mistake

Be sure, be safe, be dead.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a passion to live for you and invest my life in a worthwhile cause. Give me the courage to not shrink back because of criticism from those who oppose truth and your work. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 11:24-26 (NIV).

I happened to grow up in a part of Australia that was subject to cyclones (the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of hurricanes). I once saw the roof of a neighboring house ripped off by the ferocious winds and pieces thrown high up into the air. But I never experienced the velocity of hurricanes that have plagued Florida and the Caribbean.

King Duncan reported how he had always thought of hurricanes as something mankind could do without. “But,” said Duncan, “recently I learned that they are necessary to maintain a balance in nature. These tropical storms, with winds up to 150 miles an hour and accompanied by torrential rains, glaring lightning, and rumbling thunder, can be devastating. Yet scientists tell us they are tremendously valuable. They dissipate a large percentage of the oppressive heat which builds up at the equator, and they are indirectly responsible for much of the rainfall in North and South America. Meteorologists therefore no longer use cloud-seeding techniques to prevent them from being formed. They are convinced that hurricanes actually do more good than harm.”²

Forest fires are also necessary for the health of forests. And often we need hard times in our lives, even though they bring temporary distress, as God allows them to help us grow and become stronger Christians—”strong in character and ready for anything.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, when trials and tribulations seem more than I can bear, please help me to learn the lesson you are seeking to teach me, and through these afflicting circumstances help me to grow and become strong in character and ready for anything. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:3-4 (NLT).

2. King Duncan of www.sermons.com.