Forks in the Road

“Lord, make me a crisis man. Let me not be a mile-post on a single road, but make me a fork that men must turn one way or another in facing Christ in me.” – Jim Elliot

For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, Jim Elliot was a Christian missionary who was killed, along with four others, while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people in Ecuador. He was only 29 years old when he died on the tip of the spear doing God’s work, leaving behind a wife and 10-month-old daughter. The book and subsequent movie “End of the Spear” was based on the story of his group.

Our faith, whether we admit it freely or not, forces those around us to make choices, and sometimes, they can be quite painful. My inner circle changed dramatically when I became a Christian, as I left behind friends and family who clung to their ways, all too willing to sacrifice fruitful relations in order to maintain a given vice or two.

The Bible is riddled with verses alluding to leaving old things behind, perhaps none more familiar than Mark 1:20, when Jesus finds James and John repairing their nets. “He called them at once,” The Bible says, “and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.”

Story ID:	5138
Written by:	Brian J Knapp (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Covington Georgia United States
Year:	2009
Person:	Jim Elliot