A Life’s Work That Ended Well!

How many of us would spend our entire adult lives working on a cause that seems impossible? Yet this is what William Wilberforce did after his conversion to Christianity. He spent his entire life after that point trying to eradicate the practice of slave trading in England. William Wilberforce as a Minister of Parliament, who after his conversion to Christianity became the main voice in Parliament working toward the Abolition of the slave trade. Born in 1749, Wilberforce, who came from a well-off family became the youngest member or Parliament. He became popular in Parliament, so it was no doubt why God chose him to be His spokesperson.

Encouraged by friends of his and such groups like the Quakers, Wilberforce made the case against the immorality and evils of  slavery, summing it up by saying:

Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way Burt you can never again say that. you did not know.

In three years, Parliament voted to abolish the trade, but because of the wealth tied up with this cruel trade, it met great resistance. In 1796 the vote came up again, and members of Parliament were lured away from the vote with the offer of free opera tickets! (And we think we have corruption in Washington!) This devious plot caused Wilberforce to have a nervous breakdown. However, John Newton gave him words that he chose to live by after that:

",,,the God who you serve continually is able to preserve and deliver you, he will see you through." 

These proved to be just what Wilberforce needed to continue the fight. And fight he did. In fact, it was every year that the vote came before Parliament and it was an aged and frail Wilberforce who heard the words on July 29, 1833 that the abolishment of slavery finally was outlawed. It was just two days later that Wilberforce died. In thinking about Wilberforce,  a fitting scripture comes. to mind:

For the commandments, "Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet," and every other commandment can be summed up in these words: "Love and value others the same way you love and value yourself." Love makes it impossible to harm another, so love fulfills all that the law requires. Romans 13:9-10 (TPT)

What love, what passion, what commitment, what a trailblazer for all mankind.

Maria