Thoughts for another day

April 29, 2009.

Today's verse: Rom. 14:8. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

This world in which we are is but a place where God checks whether we’re fit to be with Him in the eternal kingdom and rightly do many say, our life on earth is but a drop in the ocean of time. In this context, I’d like to talk about a man called David Livingstone, a great explorer, but a profound man of God. His heart was full of glory for the Lord so much so that when he died, he was found on his knees praying for the "the open sore of the Lord." His is a life which echoes the clarion call of the Lord to go and preach the good news to the uttermost parts of the earth. Qualified as a doctor, his was a medical mission doubling up as God’s mission, where he spread God’s love amongst the most down-trodden in Africa. Although, he could be practicing anywhere, he chose Africa and that too it’s interiors, refusing to take the pulpit at Cape Town, because someone said to him that smoke rose from thousands of villages which had never seen a missionary.

Amid the grit and the determination that we see of David Livingstone, in that he dared to go, where death and disease were rampant, facilities non-existent and where distrust ruled the day. Yet David Livingstone never flinched from his core job of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His prayer was, "Lord, send me anywhere, but do go with me. Lay any burden on me, but sustain me in all things. Break all ties except those that bind me to Thy service and to Thine heart." Because of such determination, he was referred as the ‘Apostle of Africa’ and he even died there in the service of the Lord.

My friend, our life on earth is short. We must understand that the situation in the world is not to God’s liking and there’s but one thing to know and that is, God’s is the work we need to do and His command to obey. We have to do our bit for the Gospel and God doesn’t request us to do it; He commands us to do it. So take the reins of your life, no matter what your situation. Look up for Divine help and move. Do something and if you don’t know anything, pray. Pray that the world be won for Christ. And echo the words of St. Paul in our above verse, for someday on high, when you meet Him, He will say, ‘Well done faithful servant…enter the abode of My Father.’ What a day that will be!