This is a day of endless opportunities to serve the Lord. One life—your life—can make a difference. When God parted the waters of the Red Sea, how many did He call to lead His deliverance? One man: Moses! When the chosen people of God were faced with extinction at the hand of Haman, how many made a difference? One woman: Esther! When the murderous Athaliah sought to destroy all the royal seed through which the Redeemer would come, how many stood in her way? One woman: Jehosheba! When God made known the secret counsel of His will that was hidden from ages and generations past, how many did he initially call to make known the riches of His grace? One man: Paul! One solitary life yielded to God’s purpose can make a difference.

In the early 1900s, “the following ad once appeared in a London newspaper: ‘Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.’ The ad was signed by Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. Amazingly, the ad drew thousands of respondents, eager to sacrifice everything for the prospect of meaningful adventure.”

This story serves as a reminder that men will hazard their lives for a few moments of temporal glory that soon vanishes. But the adventure that we are on when we devote our life to Christ has the benefit of the eternal weight of glory. This journey also has its hazards, as Satan slings his fiery darts of doubt and discouragement at us, hoping to get us to give up the good fight of the faith. We also have to deal with the darkness of criticism and misrepresentations at times. But what a rewarding experience it is when we have the opportunity to lead someone to Christ and spare them from eternal judgment. What an honor it is to be used of God, the very God of creation, in whatever area of service He has called us.

The thousands that responded to Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ad were willing to sacrifice everything for a meaningful journey. Are we willing to sacrifice a few comforts of this life, its pleasures, and financial security to live for the Lord and make a difference in someone else’s life? Remember and remember well the One Who made that sacrifice for us!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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