“The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be, ‘Devoted for life.’” These words were spoken by Adoniram Judson, who, with his wife Ann, was one of the first missionaries to leave North America to bring the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to other countries.
Adoniram Judson was born in the state of Massachusetts in 1788. His parents trusted in the Lord Jesus as their Savior and wanted to raise their son to love Him. Adoniram was very smart. When he was only three years old, he could read a chapter in the Bible, and before he was 13 he taught himself Greek and Latin. When he was a teen, he had an illness that kept him in bed for many months, and he started thinking and praying about what he should do with his life. As he was reading his Bible one day, he noticed Psalm 115:1: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.” This verse made him realize he should live his life for God’s glory, not his own.
But then when he was 16, he started university, and he became best friends with a boy by the name of Jacob Eames. We need to be careful about who we have as friends, that they love the Lord Jesus and will help us to follow Him. Jacob was not a good friend for Adoniram. He had strange beliefs about God. Adoniram Judson decided he liked the way Jacob thought. When he told his parents about his new beliefs, they were very sad, but I am sure they continued to pray for him.
About this time Adoniram started two small schools and wrote a couple of books. Instead of feeling good about his accomplishments, he felt restless. He visited New York and was interested in writing plays, but he realized he still felt empty.
He went to his uncle’s home where he had left his horse, and there he met a friend of his uncle’s who was a minister. When Adoniram left, he was thinking about spiritual things. As he travelled that night, he looked for a hotel where he could spend the night. He stopped at one and the owner told him there was only one room left, but unfortunately that room was right next to a room where a very sick young man was staying. Adoniram didn’t think that would be a problem because he was a good sleeper. But that night he could hear the young man groaning and calling out, “God! God! Lost! Lost!” This made Adoniram think ... I don’t know God ... what if I were to die? In the morning, it was quiet next door. He went down to pay for his room and asked the owner, “I noticed the young man next door was quiet this morning. Do you know how he is?”
The innkeeper said, “He died during the night.”
“Oh really?” said Adoniram. “Do you know his name?”
“Yes,” said the innkeeper. “His name was Jacob Eames.”
His friend Jacob was the one who was crying out so desperately before he died!
No doubt Jacob’s death made a big impression on Adoniram. Soon after this, Adoniram went to a place for some training in the Bible, and after a few months, he totally gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.
One day, this verse came to him very strongly: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:1515And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)). He knew then that the Lord wanted him to go share the good news of salvation with people who had never heard. Soon, he felt the Lord was calling him to Asia.
Before he left, Adoniram met and married Ann Hasseltine. Shortly after their wedding, they sailed for India. Soon, they found out they weren’t allowed to be in India, and they found a ship going to Burma. Many people warned them that it was a land of great hardship and encouraged them not to go. This didn’t stop them, because they felt strongly that God was calling them to Burma to translate the Word of God into the Burmese language.
Later, war broke out between Burma and Britain, and Burmese soldiers arrested Adoniram. They had decided he must be a spy working for the British. He was put in an awful prison, with no sanitation and not much food. During this time, his wife had a baby, a little girl they named Maria. Ann went to visit Adoniram often, to take him food and to let him see his daughter.
Ann had hidden the translation of the Bible Adoniram had completed inside a pillow, but she always felt uncomfortable about it. What if the soldiers came and ransacked the house and found it? She decided on a daring plan. She took it to the prison and asked the guards if her husband could use this pillow to make his sleep a little more comfortable. They let her give it to him and for many nights he slept on that pillow.
After a while Adoniram was moved to another prison. His pillow was left behind and the guards threw it on a garbage heap. He was released after several months because the government felt he would be useful as a translator for peace negotiations between Burma and Britain. One day about this time, their cook was taking a walk and found the pillow on the garbage heap. What a happy surprise for Adoniram! He wouldn’t have to start the translation work all over again after all!
Adoniram had to leave Ann behind and move to the city of Rangoon to work on negotiations for the treaty. Ann continued with their missionary work, but she was not well. She had lived through many hardships and her health started failing. While he was away in Rangoon, Adoniram got a message that his dear Ann had gotten spotted fever and died. Six months later Maria died as well.
Adoniram ended up marrying two more times and lost other children to death, too. But he kept on faithfully with the work of translating the Scriptures into Burmese until he got sick, too. His third wife Emily was expecting their first child when the doctors recommended that Adoniram go out to sea for a few days to get some healthy sea air. Some days he seemed better, but soon he died, too. He was buried at sea. He was only 62 when he went to be with his Lord and Savior. He had faithfully done what the Lord had for him to do.
Ann once said, “A little while and we are in eternity; before we find ourselves there, let us do much for Christ.”
We are sure that Adoniram Judson will be very happy for all eternity that he lived his life for the glory of the Lord Jesus, even though his life wasn’t “easy” or “fun.” The life of the Lord Jesus wasn’t easy, either, and He said, “If any [one] serve Me, let him follow Me” (John 12:2626If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. (John 12:26)). We will never be sorry if we live our lives for Him!
Memory Verse: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.” Psalm 115:11Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. (Psalm 115:1)
Messages of God’s Love 12/15//2024