“During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his devotion to God” (Hebrews 5:7 God’s Word©).

Praying during worship in Tanzania

O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of life’s treasures,
Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
(Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897).

This is my wish for an epitaph, “He was heard because of his devotion to God”.

My education was a gift from God, because I can dig deeply into the Holy Scriptures, academics being a resource for my devotional life and my faith. Those around me, however, see me as a walking encyclopaedia and look up to me as a fountain of facts. This disturbs me greatly, for I do not want to be remembered as being smart. I want people only to remember I was a faithful servant of the Living Christ.