On this day in history in 1859, the famous Cyrus McCormick married Nettie Fowler. She was 26 years younger than Cyrus, and while he is famous for his mechanical reaper, Nettie is remembered for the work she did for Christ. 26 years after marriage, Cyrus died. Nettie was left with a pile of money. She decided to keep honoring the Lord with it, and make some eternal investments.
Here are some of the ways she used her wealth for the Lord:
--established McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago
--helped John Mott to go around the world to start student missions
--helped form the World Student Christian Federation
--contributed to the evangelic endeavors of D. L. Moody
--supported Wilfred Grenfell, missionary to Labrador
--supported George Livingstone Robinson, archaeologist to Jordan
--funded Tusculum College in Tennessee
--helped support education in Appalachia
--involved herself in Asian missions
--offered her Chicago house as a Christian halfway house for missionaries
--improved water supplies
--provided hospitals
--built a Christian college
--built a women's clinic in Persia
--built a seminary in Korea
--sent agricultural machines to India.
She did all of these things in the name of Christ. It seems a lot to us, but she remained humble about it. In her eyes, it was so little. Others, she said, were doing so much more.
If you really want to know where a person's heart is, then follow the money. What about you, what eternal investments are you currently making? What seeds are you sowing for Christ?
"Don't store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will always be where your treasure is." --Jesus (Matthew 6:19-21)
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