DAY 29: The Great Commission

By CDOP Team

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” — Matthew 24:14 (NASB)

In Scripture, our Lord not only gives us a great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) but also a great commission (Matthew 28:16-20). These two things cannot be separated. A love for God is a love for missions — for His Name to be glorified in every place (Malachi. 1:11), the salvation of the lost, and ultimately the return of our King.

The Apostle Paul aspired to pioneer and preach to those who had never heard the Gospel. It is truly astonishing that the man who spends the entirety of Romans 8 speaking of the freedom, victory, and unbreakable love of Christ offers his soul on the altar for the lost in the very next chapter. Paul’s great love for God (and God’s love for Paul) is what drives him to expend everything for His purposes. The apostles devoted their lives to His Kingdom, expectant for His triumphant return.

Our history shows that revivals often involve the youth of a generation. Hudson Taylor, the great missionary who pioneered China Inland Mission, was 21 years old when he left for China. Evan Roberts was 26 when he was used mightily in the Welsh Revival.

In 1886, 251 college students attended a conference held by D.L. Moody in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. 100 students dedicated their lives to becoming foreign missionaries (these students later became known as the Mount Hermon 100), and this was the pioneering moment of the Student Volunteer Movement. Spanning into the mid-1900s, this missions movement would send around 20,000 missionaries, believing in “the evangelization of the world in their generation.”

Although this task remains unfinished, the mantle and responsibility have been passed on to our generation. May we set our hearts to praying for another revival like that of generations past. May we set our hearts on prayer for God to stir the hearts of our youth, to be fully surrendered to our King, devoted to the Great Commission, and to declare the supremacy of Christ to those who have never heard His name.

PRAYER POINTS:

• Pray for another Student Volunteer Missions Movement in our generation.
• Pray that believers on our college campuses would count the cost and follow the Lamb wherever He may lead them.
• Pray for students to have an eternal perspective and to live for the age to come, not just this present age.