How Michael Luther King Jr. became Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1934, an African American pastor from Georgia sailed
across the Atlantic Ocean to the Holy Land. Afterward, he traveled to Berlin,
where he attended an international conference of Baptist pastors.

While in Germany, this man—who was named Michael King—became
greatly inspired by what he learned about the great German reformer Martin
Luther. So he did something remarkable: he changed his name to Martin Luther
King.

His five-year-old son was also named Michael. Not long after the boy’s father changed his own name, he changed his son’s name as well. And Michael King Jr. became Martin Luther King Jr.

The similarities between Martin Luther and Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. do not end with their names. Both saw the potential for greatness in
the people they served. Both were willing to stand for truth at great personal
risk. And both served their cause as a means to serving their Lord.

The message of the church

As a Christian, you bear and represent an even greater name.

Those who know you follow Jesus will measure your Lord by
your life. This is only natural. We tend to judge Islam by Muslims and Buddhism
by Buddhists. We measure a movement by its leaders and most committed
followers.

The good news is that even in our secularized culture, those
you know who will not attend a church service can see the message of the church
in you. They may not listen to a sermon, but they will listen to your words.

Lest this fact discourage you, remember who and Whose you
are. The same Holy Spirit who inspired Martin Luther and Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. lives in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). He is ready to empower and employ anyone
who is fully submitted to his power (Ephesians 5:18). If you will seek to be
obedient, he will use your life in ways you cannot measure on this side of
eternity.

That’s why, in today’s reading from My Utmost for His
Highest, Oswald Chambers urged us to “guard jealously your
relationship to God.” If you…