Daily Devotion

“Dyer Ball (1796–1866), a medical missionary of the American Board, reached Singapore in 1838 and, after moving on to Macao and Hong Kong, settled in Canton. He ran a boys' school, published Chinese books, tracts and a popular almanac, and toured widely with his medicines and tracts, evangelism always his first concern. With his health impaired in his last years, he still spent most of his time distributing tracts from his street chapel in Canton, where he died in 1866.”

Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity · BDCC, "Dyer Ball" by David M. Stowe (bdcconline.net); see also Wikipedia, "Dyer Ball"

Scripture

Matthew 10:36-38 A man’s enemies are his own householders. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, nor his son or daughter more than me, nor anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Reflection

The witness of early missionaries such as the elder Dyer Ball and the commandments of Jesus serve as a mirror. Nineteenth-century Chinese believers sacrificed ancestral rites, clan ties, and even their lives to follow the Lord—a price paid in blood. In today's relatively comfortable environment for faith, our challenges have become invisible idols: worldly acceptance, comfort zones, and a refined self-interest that refuses to suffer. Do we often treat Christ as an ornament, rather than the Lord of our lives? True following often means willingly choosing the narrower path when values clash with the world.