John Angell James – On Usefulness

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Hand it to the guys who lived and preached in the 1800s. John Angell James was a preacher and prolific writer in England.
A friend passed this along to me today, thought I would share it with you:

“I set out in my ministry, even when a student, with the idea of usefulness so deeply imprinted on my heart, and so constantly present to my thoughts, that I could never lose sight of it long together: and I mean a usefulness of one kind – that is the direct conversion of souls …
The press is one of the two main pillars of the temple of truth. So in the conversion of souls, though the pulpit is the main instrument of effecting this, yet the tract distributor, the Sunday-school teacher, the Bible reader, are all useful, and every person should study his talents, his means, and his opportunities for usefulness.”

Questions for thought:
1. How has God gifted you to be useful?
2. How are you currently using this usefulness, or honing those skills to be useful in the future?
3. How is the rest of your life arranged to keep this usefulness useful (life management)?