The Personal Life of David Livingstone: Chiefly from his Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His FamilyBlaikie, William Garden
Religion
The Personal Life of David Livingstone: Chiefly from his Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His Family
Blaikie, William Garden
Livingstone, David, 1813-1873
"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has
appointed me to such an office. 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. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and
then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and
charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the
spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be
for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the
glory which shall hereafter be revealed in and for us. I
never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we
remember the great sacrifice which He made who left his
father's throne on high to give himself for us; 'who being
the brightness of that Father's glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high.'...
"I beg to direct your attention to Africa: I know that in a
few years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now
open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try
to make an open path for commerce and Christianity; do you
carry out the work which I have begun, I LEAVE IT WITH YOU!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account