George Washington Carver is well known as an African-American scientist who developed scores of products from the peanut. Dr. Carver was also a humble servant of God who took every opportunity to speak to others about the Savior he loved and served.
During the 1920s, members of the YMCA and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation asked Carver to address white student audiences at colleges and universities in the South. Carver spoke about the wonders of the natural world and the loving God who created the earth and all people.
As his goal for these meetings, Carver said he wanted the students to find Jesus and make him a daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment part of their lives. “I want them to see the Great Creator in the smallest and apparently the most insignificant things about them.”
Dr. Carver sought to follow the words of Paul to a young pastor: “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24-25). That approach underscores the power of the gospel and the winsome appeal of a servant’s heart.
Let’s follow Carver’s example. — David C. McCasland
My life today I yield, O Lord, to Thee,
A channel for Thy love and grace to be;
Use me just as Thou wilt, I humbly pray,
To point some soul unto the Living Way. —Christiansen
Witnessing isn’t just a job to be done, it’s a life to be lived.