Personal Efforts by WILLIAM COVERT

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 26, 1907

Personal Efforts

By WILLIAM COVERT

WILLIAM COVERT

THE apostle Paul says, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15. It becomes necessary for the gospel laborer to go where sinners are and to come into personal touch with them in order to bring about their salvation.

Christ, the Saviour of men, went into the homes of the people, sat at their firesides, ate at their tables, slept in their beds, acquainted himself with their conditions, learned about their burdens, ministered to their needs, taught them precepts of truth, allayed their fears, brightened their hopes, and proved himself to be a tender-hearted brother who could soothe their sorrows and save them from their troubles. And every missionary who would be successful in his work should learn from Jesus, and do as he did.

The sinner’s hardened conscience must be softened, and his darkened mind must be enlightened, before he can be made to sense his great need of help. A deathlike stupor possesses the average human mind, and something unusual must be done to arouse the drowsy one from his benumbed condition, else he will soon pass into the dark abyss where no pleading can reach him.

And even now very many right among our own churches, and even in our home circles, are in the road that leads to eternal death. Indeed, we find persons in need of personal help wherever we go, so that no one can say there is nothing that he can do.

As the Saviour on the cross found a seeking sinner near at hand, so may his followers at every turn and in every

place find opportunities to call sinners to repentance. Day by day and hour by hour, we meet and talk with those who have no hope in Christ; and what record is made in heaven of these things?

The curious man who climbed the tree, the blind one who cried by the roadside, the impotent man at the pool, and the ruler who came by night, all received personal attention from the Son of God. And if it was right for him to leave heaven and come into our world to save sinners, we certainly ought to turn aside from our little earthly affairs to give our fellow creatures the message which he has prepared for us to hand to them. He sought them out, and often called them by name (John 10: 3; 11: 43), so that his appeals were personal and direct. A word spoken directly and tenderly is a balm and a solace when applied to an aching heart. No kind of missionary investment is more effective than this, and even the poorest one of God’s children may possess it in abundance to give away. Ask the Lord to help you to do it.

Chicago, Ill.