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Nelson Bell was a medical missionary who ran a 400-bed hospital in China from 1916 to 1941. During that 25-year span, Dr. Bell served as the surgical chief and administrative superintendent for the entire facility. The hospital had a pastor on staff, but since Dr. Bell considered spiritual healing as important as physical healing, he personally shared the Gospel with each of his patients.
The work was demanding. In addition to the daily grind of providing medical care for an entire province, he was tasked with management concerns, interactions with the government, and the all-important necessity of fundraising. There was never a shortage of work facing the American missionary.
However, Dr. Bell made it a point to rise every morning at 4:30am to spend two to three hours reading the Bible. During those early mornings, no matter how full his day might be, he refused to be distracted with work or correspondence of any kind. He simply read Scripture for hours on end.
That kind of spiritual discipline might sound impossible to many of us, but the daily practice of Dr. Bell was routinely verified by his son-in-law, Rev. Billy Graham.
What’s your excuse?
Resource’s Origin:
1 – 2 Timothy and Titus by Bryan Chapell. Crossway Publishers, 2013, page 116.
