(David Livingstone/Hymn: Lord Send Me Anywhere) 5 Minute Devotion
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· 23 viewsShort Biography and history of David Livingstone and the Hymn "Lord Send Me Anywhere, only go with me".
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1813-1873
DAVID LIVINGSTONE
Source: David Livingstone :: Gospel Fellowship Association Missions (gfamissions.org)
On entrance into the Westminster Abbey, the first grave is that of the British unknown soldier.
The next two graves that is encountered as you proceed into the cathedral is marked by a black marble slab in the very center of the aisle are two graves, one marked the final resting place of David Livingstone.
This morning, I would like to do something a little different.
Instead of Scripture reading, I would like to share a short biography of David Livingstone, and a history of the Hymn - Lord Send me anywhere, only go with me.
I think missionaries of years past should be some of of our heroes.
They should people we point our kids too.
And the people we look up to.
David Livingston was a man whose burden was to enter Central Africa,
- a place where no Westerner had ever been
- And the Gospel had never been preached.
He traveled thousands of miles … into territory that had never been crossed … so he could meet the tribal chief and tell them of the Gospel.
He made many outstanding geographical discoveries but said repeatedly in his writings that his primary ministry was that of preaching salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
"[I am] serving Christ when shooting a buffalo for my men or taking an observation, [even if some] will consider it not sufficiently or even at all missionary."
What was his Aim:
1. to preach Jesus Christ,
2. to open the way so that others could follow him in missionary endeavor, and
3. to wield a death blow to the terrible slave trade.
Henry Stanley was sent from the New York Herald, to find Livingstone when in 1870 he had not been heard from by any westerner in several years.
Stanley urged Livingstone to return to England with him. Had he done so, it would have been to a hero's welcome and to a reunion with his children (his wife had already died and had been buried in a lonely grave on the banks of the great Zambesi River); but Livingstone said, "Oh, when will Christ's holy Gospel enter into this dark region?"
In his journal he wrote, "Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord, my God, and go forward. I'll not swerve one hair's breadth from my work while life is spared."
On his 59th birthday, and he made this entry in his journal:
"19th March, 1872. Birthday. Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties save the tie that binds me to Thy heart. My Jesus, my King, my life, my all, I again dedicate my whole self to Thee."
That journal entry would become the inspiration for the hymn:
“Lord Send Me Anywhere, Only go with me”.
I encourage you to take some time … and consider the example and burden of David Livingstone.
I challenge to make that hymn - the theme of your life.