As another year draws to a close we have every reason to take stock and ask ourselves anew where we stand in relation to God and what preparation we are making in view of eternity. The fleeting nature of time is brought to our notice again and again as one here and one there of our fellow sinners is ushered from time into eternity. Yet how easily we forget these warnings and become again wholly immersed so quickly in the things of this world. Our days, our years are passing, swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. Time is carrying us on nearer and nearer to the eternal world. Soon the place that knows us now shall know us no more for ever. Yet have we not sought and found the Saviour?
Does this question ever arise in our minds — How am I spending time? or, To what end am I passing my days in this world? We can be fully assured that God has placed us in this world for a high end. To aver otherwise would be to cast a reflection on the wisdom of the infinitely wise God who gave us a being in time. What is our end then and how should we be spending our little span of time? The Shorter Catechism gives the answer — Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. How sobering, how searching is that answer! Where do we stand in the light of such a high end, in the light of such a glorious unending prospect? Can we say that we are motivated in all our thoughts, words and actions day by day by a desire to glorify God? A lower end than this will not do. It is God’s glory we must seek and enjoyment in Him. But you will say — ‘This is too high for me. I cannot attain to it.’ That is true indeed. In our own person we can do nothing that is God-glorifying. If we are to attain to anything that is pleasing to God it must be through Christ. In Christ and through Christ we can be and can do what otherwise would be unattainable. If then we would desire to serve God and honour and glorify Him it is by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ by a living faith and by laying hold on His strength. We must receive out of His fullness. There is a fullness of grace and of glory with Him. Here we may rest, not only for time but also for an endless eternity.
Beyond time is eternity. Only a thin veil separates time from eternity — a veil so thin that for the believer it can be expressed in these words: “absent from the body, present with the Lord.” Eternity is before us. What a glorious prospect is an eternity of bliss! “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” How wonderful for the weary soul to find a resting place in the bosom of the Almighty where the storms of this life shall never again break over his head. “There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.” Often in this world they were lashed by the waves of conflict, trials and temptations but now are safe in the harbour of rest.
Then are they glad because at rest
and quiet now they be
So to the haven He then brings
which they desired to see.
On the other hand, what a dreadful prospect is an eternity of everlasting sorrow! “There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked.” Time idly or wilfully misspent to the end of the day will give place to an eternity of unutterable woe. The very thought of departing from time to the ceaseless storms of an undone eternity ought to fill our minds with the deepest horror. Does not the very thought of the bottomless pit cry out to us in terms of compelling urgency — Flee from the wrath to come. But where are we to flee to? you say. There is no safety out of Christ. Flee, oh flee, to a cleft of that Rock which is Christ so that you may find a hiding place in Him and may never awaken in that place where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. If you are still out of Christ then let not this year close without seeking for your own soul the mercy and the pardon which is to be found in a crucified Saviour. If you find refuge in Him, then you may look forward, not only to His Presence with you in time, but throughout a never-ending eternity. In His presence is fulness of joy; at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Whether God come to His children with a rod or a crown, if He come Himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome Jesus, what way soever Thou come, if we can get a sight of Thee: and sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw the curtains, and say, Courage, I am thy salvation, than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong and never to be visited of God.
Samuel Rutherford.