Jim Elliot - The Degree of A.U.G. Part II

Jim set his alarm every night to awaken him in time for prayer and the study of the Bible. “None of it gets to be old stuff”, he wrote, “for it is Christ in print, the Living Word. We wouldn’t think of rising in the morning without a facewash, but we often neglect that purgative cleansing of the Word of the Lord. It wakes us up to our responsibilities.”

In one of the letters written to his parents, he wrote of the struggles he faced:

December 6.
“I am finding my study load heavy just now, and its almost impossible to split the sheets before 11 p.m. I would much appreciate your prayers here, for it is difficult to keep from becoming drowsy in 7: 30 Greek class in the morning, much more to keep one’s mind in sincere morning prayer and study before that time. This though, is what Paul meant when speaking of the rigor which must be sustained if one is to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, enduring hardness (2Tim 2:3).”

Jim had gone out for wrestling during his freshman year, believeing that participation in some sport contributed to his training as a soldier of Jesus Christ. As the apostle wrote, ‘But I beat my body and subdue it, least after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1Cor 9:27).’

“It’s sure a good feeling,” Jim had written his mother, “not to be water-logged and flabby while one is studying. I think it definitely stimulates the entire body processes, including thinking to be physically alert. Like the horse in Job, one can rejoice in his strength.”

Excerpts from further letters to his parents:

February 8.
"My Father knows best, and I am confident that He has placed me here; my task is to labor quietly until the *pillar of cloud removes (Ex 13:21), and leads further, working out God’s purposes in God’s time.”

February 22.
“Several of my housemates and I have begun prayer together here in our ‘den’ and such times we do have...These are times I will remember about college when all the philosophy has slipped out memory’s back gate. God is still on His Throne, we are still at His footstool, and there is only a knee distance between!”

“My grades came through this week, and were, as expected, lower than last semester. However, I make no apologies, and admit I have let them drop a bit for study of the Bible, in which I seal the degree of A.U.G., ‘Approved Unto God’.”

March 29.
“Hour before we again rise from our knees, feeling as if our faces should be veiled for the small glimpse of glory the Lord has given us. This, to me, is real Christianity, when fellows pray and see miracles work on campus the following day. Each day becomes a time of wrought wonders.”

IT WAS SOMETIME DURING THESE FIRST TWO YEARS AT COLLEGE THAT JIM BECAME
CONSCIOUS OF THE DIRECT, PERSONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE LORD JESUS’ COMMAND
TO GO AND PREACH THE GOSPEL. HE DECIDED THAT THE COMMAND WAS DIRECTED
TO HIM.

This decision to obey the Lord cost Jim his life....

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the price? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”
1Cor 9:24-27, St Paul

* The visible symbol of God’s presence among His people.