Bob's Habit

A missionary friend of ours is in heaven now. One of the chosen habits of Bob Boardman is a good example, and a call, to all followers of Christ.

Bob was a Marine for four years during WWII. During these years, his life radically changed when he “moved from being a dog-tag Christian to becoming a true believer and follower of the Living God.”
God used several things to reach Bob, who had never read the Bible before, and who was not necessarily interested either. He was a hot-headed, worldly young Marine who had chosen a fist fight with an Aussie and ended up smashing his hand through a window.

During his recovery from surgery, God began to humble and convict Bob of his sin. Bob also took out the New Testament that the Red Cross had given him, and he starting reading it. He read it for three months. God kept revealing Himself and working in Bob, and at the end of those three months, Bob accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.

In combat, God also spared Bob’s life. He was shot through the throat by a Japanese bullet, which also destroyed his larynx. After several surgeries, Bob recovered and had to talk with a husky whisper voice for the rest of his life.

Fast forward a few years. Bob kept up with his chosen habit. God also sent Bob and his new wife Jean somewhere no one would have expected – as missionaries back to Japan, the land of his enemy. They faithfully brought the Japanese people the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a few decades.

You may have guessed by now the habit that Bob chose. During the last year of Bob’s life when he was in his 80s, he wrote, “Through my motley career as a Christian servant and since I began to keep records in the early 1960s, I have read the Old Testament 55 times and the New Testament 120 times. Perhaps I am boasting, but only to let you know that I could not successfully overcome the ravages of this world system without the spiritual power of God’s written Word. Let His powerful Word be praised!”

How about you? Are you reading through the Old Testament? The New Testament? Regularly? There is no substitute if we want to know the Lord our God and His spiritual power to overcome.