Growing up as the son of a Congregationalist minister in the late 1700s, young Adoniram Judson had a foundation laid for a life of usefulness and success in the cause of God. His father dreamed that he would one day become a famous pastor and instilled in Adoniram’s young mind the grand possibilities. Adoniram entered college at age 16 and graduated at age 19 as the valedictorian of his class. Everything he had worked for, all of his father’s dreams, were now coming to fruition. Surely he would now take his place among the church luminaries. However, this was not to be. At college, Adoniram’s drive for success led him away from his childhood faith and toward deism and skepticism. He sold out.

As I contemplate our future, at times I am tempted to think we are wasting valuable years of our lives by going to live in a strange country among unreached people. We could be so much “further ahead” if we would just stay in America and pursue our own dreams. Too often, I fear, people make the mistake of Adoniram Judson in his early years. They abandon God’s calling for worldly pursuits, and their ambition leads them away from God’s mission.

“For the sake of worldly advantage, for the sake of acquiring scientific knowledge, men are willing to venture into pestilential regions and to endure hardship and privation. Where are those who are willing to do as much for the sake of telling others of the Saviour?” (Prophets and Kings, p. 172).

Will you, dear friend, channel your God-given drive toward winning souls for Him? Thankfully, Adoniram Judson eventually did and became a great missionary to Burma.

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