Being Not Doing

What we choose to be is far more important then what we choose to do! From being comes doing, this is why in the book of Genesis, God didn’t make us a living doing but a living being. It’s the men and women who major in “being” that build the greatest character and create the longest legacy!

I’ve always loved the stories of David Livingstone, perhaps the greatest missionary next to the Apostle Paul that ever lived. He is credited to ending Arab slave trading in East Africa, discovered new routes that brought about a better economy, and brought the Gospel that continues to affect Africa today.

He found Victoria Falls and Lake Nyasa and wrote two bestsellers about his expeditions. Newspaper correspondent Henry M. Stanley met Livingstone less than two years before he died. He wrote about the time he spent with him.
“His gentleness never deserts Him…He is the Spartan heroism… never to relinquish his work, though his heart yearns for home; never to surrender his obligations until he can write finished to his work.”

Stanley saw Livingstone’s faith demonstrated not in his doing but in his being. This is why over 147 years after his death, the nations in Africa still honor this man. After he died in Zambia, the village people made a crucifix from the tree that he died under; that crucifix is in a church in Zambia, Africa! Being is greater than doing.