My Utmost For His Highest

Oswald Chambers was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1874, the son of a Baptist minister. As a teenager, after hearing Charles Spurgeon preach, young Oswald surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Chambers studied for the ministry and was the first principal of the Bible Training College at Clapham Common, London. World War I exploded on Europe and the college was closed in 1915.

Chambers joined the staff of the YMCA and with his wife, Biddy, was sent to Europe to minister to the English and Australian troops stationed in Zeitoun and Ismailia. The YMCA constructed 72 by 40 foot reed huts for the soldiers to come and relax in. Within a week, Oswald Chambers had four hundred soldiers packed in each night to hear him teach the Bible. Hundreds came to Christ. He wrote in his diary, "There are so many 'saved' souls waiting instruction, and they take it with zest. There is no difficulty at all in getting men to 'decide' for Christ, they do it readily." Sadly, on November 17, 1917, Chambers died of complications from an appendix operation.

Chambers had written just one book before he died, Baffled to Fight Better, but he had kept a journal. Biddy (his wife) was a trained court stenographer and had taken down word for word many of his hundreds of messages delivered at colleges and military camps. She began editing his material into 365 daily readings and named it My Utmost for His Highest. She completed it in 1927, ten years after Oswald's death. Today the book remains among the top ten Christian titles sold annually.

What will be our legacy, yours and mine? God cannot only use our lives for His glory while we are alive and working for Him, but long after we are gone. O God, help us to keep our focus on You and what You have asked us to do. We'll leave the results to You, for Your glory.