One Solitary Life
James Allan Francis
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself…
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
Pray: Jonah 2 (from inside the Great Fish)
I called out to You,
out of my deep distress,
and You answered me.
From the grave,
from deep darkness,
I cried, and You heard my voice.
You threw me into the deep,
You cast me into
the heart of the sea,
where the torrent surrounded me,
where Your surf,
Your waves,
crashed over me.
Then, I said, “I am lost,
out of even the sight
and presence of God.
I am truly alone.”
The waters closed in over me.
The deep encompassed me.
Weeds wrapped around my head.
At the base of the mountains,
I fell into the deep where the darkness closed upon me.
I surrendered. Gone forever.
Yet, You pulled me
up from the Pit.
My Lord! My God!
As my life faded, vanished,
I remembered You!
My prayer came to You!
My voice entered into
Your holy presence,
where You heard me!
Salvation and deliverance
I am Yours.
This day, this moment, this instant
are all Yours.
Amen.
