Psalm 23 Paths of the RighteousSample

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3, ESV)

Hudson Taylor was the first Christian missionary to go into the interior of China. Many believers in China today can trace their spiritual heritage back to his ministry. His work established a Christian presence in the country before the Communist takeover in the early 1900s. His ministry produced over 125,000 converts and 800 hundred missionaries who scattered over all the provinces of China. But as a young man, he was skeptical and thought being a Christian meant his life would be dull and boring. 

One day, at age 17, he was home alone and looking for something to read and found a tract in his father’s study. While he was reading, he was struck by the phrase, “the finished work of Christ.” Immediately, he recalled Jesus’ words, “It is finished!” He realized no amount of striving or good works could save him, but his debt had been paid in full at the cross. It was at that moment he surrendered his life to Christ. 

One hundred miles away at the exact same time, his mother, who was visiting a friend, had gone into her room to pray for Hudson’s salvation. For hours she prayed until she felt her prayers were answered. Two weeks later when she returned home, Hudson met her at the door with the happy news. She hugged him and said, “I know my boy, I’ve been rejoicing for a fortnight.”

He Restores Souls that Rest in Him

Many years later in China, Hudson struggled to find joy under the weight and never-ending strain of his work. One day, he received a letter from a friend and fellow missionary, John McCarthy, who shared a recent revelation he had about abiding in Christ and finding spiritual rest. 

As he read the letter Hudson said, “I saw it all. I looked to Jesus, and when I saw it oh, how joy flowed!” It was such a pivotal moment in his life that his co-laborers noticed a difference and said of him, “Mr. Taylor went out, a new man in a new world, to tell what the Lord had done for his soul.” 

Finding rest comes from understanding the relationship of the sheep to the Shepherd. When Hudson Taylor fully grasped this truth, it transformed his life and his work. 

If you’re striving to find spiritual rest today, consider afresh the character of your Shepherd, Jesus. To know him is to trust him, and to trust him is to love him. He is the longing of our hearts, and in him, our souls find true rest.