D.L. Moody’s Commitment to God: One Soul a Day

Have you ever heard the story about D. L. Moody’s resolution? The famous American evangelist from Chicago made a commitment to God as a new believer in Christ and went to great lengths to keep it.

Stepping out in faith

Mr. Moody promised that he would never let twenty-four hours pass over his head without speaking to at least one person about his soul. His was a very busy life, and sometimes he would forget his resolution until the last hour. Occasionally he would even get out of bed, dress, go out and talk to someone about his soul so that he might not let one day pass without having definitely told at least one of his fellow-mortals about his need and the Savior who could meet it.

Resolution tested

One night Mr. Moody was going home from his place of business. It was very late, and it suddenly occurred to him that he had not spoken to one single person that day about accepting Christ. He said to himself: “Here’s a day lost. I have not spoken to anyone today, and I shall not see anybody at this late hour.” But as he walked up the street, he saw a man standing under a lamppost. The man was a perfect stranger to him, though it turned out afterwards the man knew who Mr. Moody was. He stepped up to the stranger and asked, “Are you a Christian?” The man replied, “That is none of your business whether I am a Christian or not. If you were not a sort of a preacher, I would knock you into the gutter for your impertinence.” Mr. Moody said a few earnest words and passed on.

The next day that man called upon one of Mr. Moody’s prominent business friends and said to him, “That man Moody of yours over on the North Side is doing more harm than he is good. He has got zeal without knowledge. He stepped up to me last night, a perfect stranger, and insulted me. He asked me if I were a Christian, and I told him it was none of his business, and if he were not a sort of a preacher, I would knock him into the gutter for his impertinence. He is doing more harm than he is good. He has got zeal without knowledge.”

Mr. Moody’s friend sent for him and said, “Moody, you are doing more harm than you are good; you’ve got zeal without knowledge. You insulted a friend of mine on the street last night. You went up to him, a perfect stranger, and asked him if he were a Christian, and he tells me if you had not been a sort of a preacher, he would have knocked you into the gutter for your impertinence. You are doing more harm than you are good; you have got zeal without knowledge.”

Mr. Moody went out of his friend’s office somewhat crestfallen. He wondered if he were not doing more harm than he was good, if he really had zeal without knowledge. Weeks passed by. One night Mr. Moody was in bed when he heard a tremendous pounding at his front door. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. He thought the house was on fire. He thought the man would break down the door. He opened the door, and there stood the man from the street. He said, “Mr. Moody, I have not had a good night’s sleep since that night you spoke to me under the lamppost, and I have come around at this unearthly hour of the night for you to tell me what I have to do to be saved.” Mr. Moody took him in and told him what to do to be saved. The man accepted Christ.

(You can read the full article of which this is an excerpt here: DL Moody’s Consuming Passion for the Salvation of the Lost.)

Profiting from Moody’s resolution

I hope that your first reaction to reading this story was not to dismiss it as an extreme idea. There is much to encourage our faith through Moody’s testimony.

Praise God!

We should praise the Lord for this dear brother’s godly ambition and faith to even think of such a resolution, much less keep it! No doubt there were many days when his commitment was put to the test. Consider how many people were confronted with the Gospel on some level through this one man’s commitment. He engaged at least one person per day with their need for Jesus Christ. Let’s assume that he did so every day for just ten years. In ten years, 3,600 people were spoken to by him in person—and that doesn’t count the many thousands who heard Moody preach the Gospel in evangelistic meetings and church services throughout his lifetime. What a blessing to know of so many being spoken to by just one man!

Be challenged!

Probably none of us are as gifted as Moody was. All of us live in contexts much different than the one Mr. Moody lived in. But let’s not allow these caveats to strip away the devotional impact of this man’s resolution. Moody’s commitment should stir our hearts to want more, to have greater faith, to be willing to make our own commitments to Christ. When we read about fellow believers who stepped out in faith in very “extreme” ways, we find ourselves reminded vividly that God can do much with very little (“Little is Much When God is in It”). Accounts of George Muller, Hudson Taylor, Brother Andrew, and many others bless our faith for these reasons.

Consider stepping out by faith!

Have we ever made a commitment about evangelism? What about setting a personal goal for verbally engaging people with the Gospel, one that would stretch our faith?

Would you be willing to commit to the Lord to speak to one person about his or her need for Jesus Christ every day for a week? A month? What about pulling some friends or others into such a commitment for a set period of time? That way, you could pray and support one another as you wait to see what God might do.

Making a resolution like this is not about proving our righteousness or godliness. It is not to gain attention from others or obtain praise. It would be something we could do in humility before the Lord for Him, not for men.

This article was first published on Gospel Fellowship Association’s blog, Commissioned.

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