Part. 6 The Lion.
BIG animals we have heard about and some little ones, but now we are going to talk about the king of them all, his majesty, the lion. You have all seen pictures of the big yellow animals, with their big heads and grand, tawny mane. They are beautiful to look at, but they are terrible when they roar. It is all right when they are shut up in a cage, but if you were in Africa, there would not be any safe, strong bars between you and them. About seventy years ago, we did not know anything about the center of Africa, except that lions lived there. Then one summer, a brave, young Scotchman, named David Livingstone, said good-bye to his old father, and sailed away to Africa. He was determined to find some people, who had never heard about Jesus, and he would tell them about the great God, who had an only Son, whom He sent into this world to teach people, and heal them when they are sick, and at last to die on the cross to save all the people in the world, who will believe on Him.
After Livingstone reached Africa, he had to drive in an ox-wagon, hundreds of miles, away from all white men, and there he found that besides lions in the middle of Africa, there were a great many black people. Some of them were tall and strong, and some he found were very small, not any bigger then a boy of ten or twelve. Wouldn’t you like to see one of those funny little men?
Such adventures as David Livingstone had! Some day you will have to hear all about them; how he traveled in canoes made out of trees, how he saw crocodiles and hippopotamus, and also wonderful flowers and gorgeous butterflies. Sometimes he was all alone with nowhere to sleep and no proper food to eat, or water to drink. Sometimes he was surrounded by fierce people, who waved their spears at him and tried to kill him. But he always went on, to finish what he had begun. All the time God was watching over him, and would not allow His brave servant to be killed, for when we do anything for God, we can be quite sure God will look after us.
Once a great lion sprang at Livingstone and knocked him down. The great, big animal seized him by the arm and shook him, just like pussy shakes a mouse. The lion would have eaten him all up, but a brave, black man rushed up and shot the lion. Livingstone was terribly hurt, for his bone was all crushed, and there were eleven big marks where the lion had bitten him. But there is one lion in Africa even worse than that one. Satan is called a roaring lion, you know, and he goes round trying to catch people. He tries to make people forget about God, and not listen to God’s Word. Yes, dears, that lion is here in America, trying to make you tell lies, and disobey mother, perhaps to make you read bad books, or to take other people’s things. Drive him away; you don’t need to get a gun; just ask the Lord to help you, and you will be quite safe. But Satan has even more power in Africa, where the people don’t know about God, and he makes the people terribly unhappy.
Perhaps the saddest thing in Africa is that there are so many slaves. There are not so many as there used to be, but there are still a great many. It is a dreadful thing to be a slave. Suppose somebody came and burnt up our houses, and chained us all together in a long row, and marched us off—how should we like it? But that is just what used to happen, and still does happen in Africa. When the Arabs, who want the slaves, can’t get them that way, they buy them. Just think, there are fathers and mothers in Africa who are cruel enough to sell their own dear, little children for slaves! Now, do you wonder that Africa is called a “black country”? It is black with sin and sorrow. Jesus said once that He was the “Light of the World,” and so He is, but you must put the light where you want it to shine, must you not? And there are parts of Africa where the light of Jesus has never shown so it is all dark. The people are very wicked; they steal and tell lies, and do dreadful things. They have never heard of God’s Holy Spirit, who teaches us what is naughty and what is good, but they are very much afraid of bad spirits. Brave David Livingstone said that, with God’s help, he would not leave Africa till he had put down the slave trade. Although that brave pioneer died before he had finished that work, he did bring much light to the poor negroes, for he loved them so much that they were ready to believe what he told them of the love of God.
Next week I want to tell you about a country in the middle of Africa.
ML 06/11/1916