In the fourteen days of our trip we read it together in our van, over lunch, before going to bed, early mornings and wherever and whenever we could fit it in. We were often behind our ‘five times’ commitment but the practice was good. There were a number of times when we didn’t feel like we were doing our ‘utmost for his highest.’ In fact, as we alternately would catch each other nodding off from jet lag we would say, “Could you not watch with me even one hour?” Given that today is Maundy Thursday and in light of ‘my utmost’, the question of watchfulness is a good one. So much of our lives are lived in some kind of jet lag, and we do not give our utmost for his highest but rather feeble attempts which lack focus and long term commitment. As I make my way to the cross and through to resurrection Sunday this year, I want it to be a recommitment to my utmost for His highest.
As a significant part of our two weeks in Egypt, we committed ourselves to following a time of devotions and prayer five times each day, in a similar way as devout Muslims commit themselves to prayer five times each day. Cairo is known as the “City of a Thousand Minarets,” and by five each morning you can hear the first call and the hum of this, as it spreads through this city of more then 20 million. What we didn’t know before our trip was that the well known Oswald Chambers who wrote the daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest died in Cairo and was buried there 100 years ago this year. We began our time in Egypt by visiting his grave. His book published after his death by his wife has been reprinted into 40 languages and has never been out of print. Though I had often heard of the book I had never read it and in the updated language I must say I have found it challenging and inspiring.
In the fourteen days of our trip we read it together in our van, over lunch, before going to bed, early mornings and wherever and whenever we could fit it in. We were often behind our ‘five times’ commitment but the practice was good. There were a number of times when we didn’t feel like we were doing our ‘utmost for his highest.’ In fact, as we alternately would catch each other nodding off from jet lag we would say, “Could you not watch with me even one hour?” Given that today is Maundy Thursday and in light of ‘my utmost’, the question of watchfulness is a good one. So much of our lives are lived in some kind of jet lag, and we do not give our utmost for his highest but rather feeble attempts which lack focus and long term commitment. As I make my way to the cross and through to resurrection Sunday this year, I want it to be a recommitment to my utmost for His highest.
2 Comments
Martin
4/13/2017 01:34:18 pm
Thanks Dennis. It is very obvious this trip to the Middle East was a profoundly spiritual experience for you. Thanks for sharing your experiences as well as challenges for living more intentionally and deeply "in Christ".
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Sarah Froese
4/22/2017 12:42:37 pm
This post reminds me of a Missions trip I went on to Holland when I was 19 years old. One Sunday we took part in a church service at a refugee camp that had mainly Nigerian families living in it. The service was 5 (FIVE!!!) hours long. Our Canadian team was not used to such stamina. But our Nigerian friends seemed to just gain energy as the hours went on and it was contagious. Thanks for your blog and this renewed challenge to live my utmost for His highest (this book was the gift that PCS gave to the class of '94 at my graduation. Great book!)
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