Daily Devotion

“Montagu Harry Proctor-Beauchamp was one of the "Cambridge Seven," who in 1885 went to China as missionaries with the China Inland Mission. Evacuated from China in 1900 because of the Boxer uprising, he returned in 1902; back in England from 1911, he served as a British Army chaplain and as Vicar of Monkton Combe in Somerset. His son became a second-generation missionary in China; in 1935 he himself returned to China, and in 1939 he died at his son's mission station in Paoning (Langzhong), where he was buried in the cemetery of St John's Cathedral.”

Wikipedia · "Cambridge Seven," Wikipedia

Scripture

Proverbs 24:11-12 Deliver some from death, and stop others from going to slaughter. If you say, “Behold, I know nothing of this,” does He who measures the hearts of men not know? Does He who guards your life not know? Will He not repay each person according to what they have done?

Reflection

Montagu Beauchamp left his home in England to bring the gospel to China, returned there even in old age, and was laid to rest there; his life echoes the urgent exhortation in Proverbs to "rescue someone from death." We often use "I don't know" or "my abilities are limited" as excuses to mask our inner indifference in a comfortable environment. However, the Lord who measures the heart values whether we are willing to break the silence of selfishness. Reflecting on the present, am I holding the light of truth while letting those around me grope in darkness? Faith should not be a safe haven, but a driving force to enter into the world and prevent destruction.