Mid-week Devotional:
Week of February 1, 2026
My husband and I both grew up in Minnesota. In August of 1984 we moved to Brownsville, Texas. I had been hired to teach at a school located near the bridge that connected Brownsville with Matamoras, Mexico. Many of my students spoke Spanish better than English so there was a lot of learning on my part and on my students.
Those who knew more English than others helped those who struggled with the language barrier. They also helped me learn a little Spanish. Sometimes we shared what we were saying through sign language. We learned that each of us had something to share and most importantly not to give up communicating and connecting with each other.
In 1820, over a hundred years ago a little girl named Fanny Crosby was born. She was a normal child when she was born but before her first birthday, she was completely blind due to incorrect treatment for an eye infection. Fanny lost her sight but her ability to remember what she heard word by word was amazing. Her family were Christians and read the Bible to her. As a young child she memorized the first 5 books of the Old Testament plus Proverbs, all 4 of the Gospels, and most of the Psalms. “At the age of 6 she began writing words to hymns and over her lifetime over 8,000 hymns.”
Fanny Crosby’s favorite Bible verse was 1 John 3:2.
Hear the Word of God,
“2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this; when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”
This is God’s Word for God’s people. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
Even though Fanny could not see the physical faces of those she met throughout her life she never stopped reaching out to others and sharing with them her faith. “She encouraged others to come to Christ at every opportunity” she had. Fanny would speak at missions in New York city. One evening a young man came forward after she spoke and shared with her that he was the one she had described as “the young boy who had wandered away from his mother’s teaching and his promise to her to meet her in heaven through the way he was living.” Fanny prayed with him and the next day she wrote the words to the hymn Rescue the Perishing.
“Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.”
35 years later after speaking at a Men’s Christian Association meeting a man came forward and shared that he was the young boy who had wandered away, the one she had prayed with. He said to her, “’I sought and found peace… I have tried to live a consistent Christian life ever since. If we never meet again on earth, we will meet up yonder.’”
It was through Fanny Crosby’s action of reaching out, connecting, and communicating with him when he was lost that he came to believe in God’s love and grace.
Today and in the days ahead…
Think about how Fanny Crosby shared her journey of faith and her personal relationship with Christ to all those she encountered in her life.
She shared without thinking twice.
“She encouraged others to come to Christ at every opportunity.”
The perfect time to share was always.
In the days ahead may you share with all whom you meet without hesitation God’s love and grace through all your words and actions encouraging them to believe that “Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.”
I will be praying for you.
Peace be with you.
AMEN.
https://enjoyingthejourney.org/hymn-history-rescue-the-perishing/
Rescue the Perishing, Hymn #591, The United Methodist Hymnal