He kept praying for one more.
Hacksaw Ridge was a 2016 movie about Pfc Desmond Doss, the only conscientious objector in the army to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. But he had an unyielding passion for sacrificing himself for others.
Desmond Thomas Doss was a devout Christian who, when drafted, refused to bear arms. He was ridiculed and mocked for his refusal. Despite the rejection he experienced, he never wavered from his convictions.
Doss became an army medic and served in the Pacific theatre in the war with Japan. He was part of the battle of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest battles in the entire war, which required climbing Maeda Escarpment, a steep four-hundred-foot cliff, to take the island.
Doss was among the first wave of soldiers to reach the top. Once there, they experienced a fierce Japanese counterattack, and the command gave the order to retreat.
Doss saw the many wounded on the top of that hill and refused to leave. He dragged soldiers, one by one, to the edge of the cliff. Then, he fashioned a makeshift pulley and lowered each man to the bottom of the cliff. Within three hours, he rescued more than seventy-five men.
When asked why he stayed behind, Doss said, “I had these men up there, and I did not want to leave them. I didn’t feel like I should value my life above my buddies.”
His commanding officer, who once tried to court-martial him, said he was one of the bravest soldiers with whom he had ever served.
When asked how he could persevere under enemy fire to accomplish this task, Doss responded, “So I just kept on prayin’, ‘Lord, help me to get more and more, one more, until there was none left,’ and I am the last one down.” God honored his prayers.
What if we prayed each morning for our words or deeds to touch just one more for Christ—snatching them from the flames of hell and loving them into God’s family? We, and the people we meet, might be different people.
How might you touch just one more person for Christ?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Ken Barnes has had a twenty-five year career in educational pursuits. He has taught in various public and private schools in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and Virginia. He also worked for seventeen years with Youth With A Mission as a school leader, recruiter, and director. Ken holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places. He currently is a speaker, blogger, and freelance writer. Ken lives with his wife Sharon in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Visit Ken at https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/