Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age.”
I
read a little up on David Livingstone (March 19,1813 – May 1 1873), a Scottish Congregationalist
pioneer medical missionary and explorer of the Victorian era, now
best remembered because of his meeting with Henry Morton Stanley which
gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?"
David
Livingstone, one of the greatest missionaries in the Church’s history, wrote
this prayer from his diary: “Lord, send
me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any
ties but the tie that binds me to Thy service and Thy heart.” Livingstone
was willing to be willing and God took Livingstone up on his prayer – “send me
anywhere.”
Livingstone
was deeply influenced by missionary Robert Moffat's judgement that he was the
right person to go to the vast plains to the north of Bechuanaland, where he
had glimpsed "the smoke of a thousand villages, where no missionary had
ever been." Once in Africa, Livingstone encountered numerous trials and loneliness
weighed heavily upon him. But
Livingstone was undaunted, and he went deeper and deeper into Africa alone.
Livingstone
went back to Scotland, but later returned to Africa, and though his wife joined
him, she passed away soon after her arrival. But Livingstone continued to press
on, tramping across Africa for thirty-three years. Because of his faithfulness
to the Lord, two million people heard the Gospel, and the light of Christ came
into Africa. David Livingstone set his heart on Christ and committed himself
wholly t the Lord.
What
was Livingstone’s secret to maintaining his commitment despite all his
struggles? Christ’s presence! In the midst of all of his hardships and toils,
he know Christ remained with him, for Jesus had said, “I am with you always.” As
far as his popularity and fame as a national hero in Britain, Livingstone said:
“People talk of the sacrifice I
have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a
sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to
our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its
own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace
of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word
in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say
rather it is a privilege.”
John Baillie once said, “Give
me, O God, this day a strong and vivid sense that Thou are by my side." This Christmas season, let Livingstone’s example encourage you. remember that Jesus Christ is with you wherever you go, whatever you do. and tell someone who doesn't know, the reason for the season.
In
Christ, Brian
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