DEVDAS AND THE GREAT SPIRIT

Many years ago in native America, there was a great Indian chief named Kanuna. He was the husband of a beautiful young woman named Salani. One day the Great Spirit blessed them with a wonderful baby boy. On the seventh day after his birth, Kanuna dedicated the baby to the Great Spirit and called his name Atsadi. His parents were so proud of him. The boy grew up and became a great man that the whole tribe loved, and respected. In adulthood, he became known as Devdas. When chief Kanuna died suddenly, everyone expected Devdas to become chief, but he refused. He chose another great man named Ashwin to take his place as chief. This was not the way of the tribe, but Devdas had known for some time that the Great Spirit had other plans for his life.

Many moons before his father, chief Kanuna died, Atsadi had a dream. In the dream, he saw a man in a white robe walk into his village. The man walked up to him and handed him a small black book and told him that the Great Spirit sent him and wanted Atsadi to share the book with all his people. The very next day, a group of Christians came to the village. They told the tribe about a God who loves everyone and became a man and lived on earth, and sacrificed himself to save the world. When they showed them the Bible, Atsadi knew the Great Spirit had sent the men, and he knew what he had to do. So, instead of preparing to become chief, he chose to follow Jesus and teach his people about him.

Atsadi was baptized in Fox River and became a Christian. He began translating the Bible into his native tongue and teaching his tribe about Jesus. He established a church there and started traveling to neighboring clans preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. In a few short years, he had planted eight churches and introduced thousands to Jesus, including his friend Ashwin, and chief Kanuna.

It’s amazing how God works to spread the gospel across the world and there are many other stories like this one. I heard one story about an evangelist who went to a large city and preached to large crowds of people night after night for a week. At the end of the week, only one young man accepted Jesus and was baptized. The preacher felt like a failure. In the eyes of many, he was a failure on that trip. But God doesn’t measure success or failure by numbers. That young man went on to become an evangelist himself, and over his lifetime, he led thousands to Jesus. We don’t know exactly what God has planned for our lives, but we do know that he has a plan. All we need to do is follow him, and allow him to use us in his plan.

Many times it may mean changing plans we have laid out for ourselves, or even giving up our dreams. We may have to abandon a long line of tradition like Atsadi did. In Bible times, many people even changed their names when they met God like Atsadi did. By the way, Atsadi means fish. Devdas, the name he embraced as an adult, means Servant of God.

Today, when we commit our lives to following God, we get a new name. We become “Christians” which means “Christ-Like”, or “Like Christ.” The name, in and of itself, doesn’t make us anything. Our commitment to God and the new nature he gives us are what count. As born-again believers, we have our names in the Book of Life, and if we endure until the end, we will live forever with him (Matthew 24:13). That will more than makeup for anything we may have to give up or change.

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6