Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
"Room for Faith: The Tale of Two Salesmen"
A simple hotel room turned into a sacred space where two traveling salesmen discovered not just hospitality but the profound power of faith. Join me as we dive into the inspiring story of Sam Hill and John Nicholson, whose unexpected encounter in 1899 sparked the birth of the Gideon Society. Their journey from casual conversation about God to establishing a mission that puts Bibles in hotels and schools worldwide still resonates today.
Get ready for heartfelt insights and a reminder of how your everyday encounters may lead to something extraordinary! Don't forget to subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review; your feedback helps inspire others!
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. We're all familiar with the phrase there was no room in the inn. Well, today we have a story for you in which that phrase plays particular significance, but it has nothing to do with Christmas. This story is about two men, sam Hill and John Nicholson. Both were traveling salesmen back in 1899.
Speaker 1:Sam sold paint and, as his travel became late, one day while traveling through Bosco Bell, wisconsin, he had to stop and find a place to stay. It was now a little bit later in the evening and the hotel had filled up. In fact, the owner of the hotel, a man by the name of John Church, said he was sorry, but with things being so busy, sam probably wasn't going to be able to find anywhere in town to be able to have a room. Sam said okay, and so he turned around and began to exit the hotel, but the hotel owner stopped him and said hey, come back just a minute. I've got an idea. There's a man upstairs. His name is John Nicholson and he's also a traveling salesman. He took my last room, but he had to take a double instead of a single. Maybe tonight, if you're lucky, maybe he would be willing to share with you and let you stay there as well. So Sam followed the hotel owner up the stairs to where John Nicholson was staying. The two men introduced themselves, shook hands and John agreed to let Sam stay there for the night.
Speaker 1:Sam threw his suitcase down on the unused bed, began to unpack a few things and very soon both men were laying back on their beds and decided to do some evening reading. As Sam glanced over towards John laying on the opposite bed, john not knowing that he was being observed, he lifted something small and black out of his suitcase. It was a Bible. Sam asked John what kind of products he sold and John told him it was paper products. Then Sam asked John what he was doing with the Bible. John answered that he was a Christian and he always kept his Bible close by. Sam smiled. He was happy. He said well, that's a great coincidence, because I am a Christian too, and he reached down and pulled his Bible out of his suitcase. John said he was about to have his evening devotions, and he reached down and pulled his Bible out of his suitcase. John said he was about to have his evening devotions and he asked Sam if he would like to join him, and Sam gratefully accepted the invitation.
Speaker 1:So the two salesmen each sitting on the edge of their beds facing one another, and they began to share the portions of scriptures that they were studying that day in their own personal devotions. They talked for some time and as they discussed the Word of God together, they really encouraged each other and they really gave each other a lift. When they finally realized that they were too tired to stay awake, they were amazed to discover that they had been talking for over three hours, and as their conversation ended, an idea was born. They were both so encouraged to be able to talk to each other and to spend some time together here in this hotel room discussing God's Word in the middle of a business trip. They liked it so much that they were determined to try and find a way in which they could get this same thing happening in other places at other times for other Christians whenever they met.
Speaker 1:A few months later, john and Sam met at the home of a man by the name of Bill Knight. They discussed the idea and they prayed together, and they all agreed committing themselves to the establishment of the Association of Christian Traveling Men. They would name their new association after the one who had led small numbers against impossible odds to magnificent victory they called themselves the Gideons. That night, in 1899, the Gideon Society was founded, and it's still thriving. From the very beginning, the Gideon Bible Society had a purpose in mind of putting Bibles in every hotel room in the United States. Since that time, millions and millions of Bibles have been placed in hotels throughout the world and many more millions have been handed out through schools and to the military. In fact, I remember in grade school receiving a small red Gideon Bible in the third grade. In 2019, the Gideon's international organization provided and donated 1.4 million Bibles to hotels around the world.
Speaker 1:Psalm 119, verse 105, says your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. God's word will light our path and it will guide our feet in every area of our lives. Who knows what insight or encouragement may come to you as you read your Bible? Maybe something in some way that you can help the people in your family or your neighbors or your friends, or maybe it might just be something that can impact people all around the world. Whatever it is, god's Word carries power and truth for you, so be blessed, my friends. Have a great day and I'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today, and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right, with Danny Mac.
