Gems written at the age of 14
Gleanings from the journal of
And yet how careless is he of that time!
A few hours’ illness may carry him away into a world of endless happiness or of endless woe!
Day by day calls forth more hidden depravity of his heart; and yet his whole affections are
set upon the very object which is fostering and encouraging that depravity.
His great ambition is to win the approbation of the world; a world that slew the King of kings;
a world full of sin and sorrow, the medium by which Satan endeavors to blind the eyes of the
children of men.
And yet, after all,
It promises much, but realizes nothing.
The more we expect pleasure, the more are we disappointed in it.
Oh, what would man be, if instead of seeking the friendship and the love of a dying world, he
would seek that of Jehovah!
And yet how prone are we to lament when we are frowned upon by the world. If we did not
seek its smiles, we would not mind its frowns.
But the more we are delighted at the world’s praise, the more are we discomforted and made
unhappy by its disapprobation.
But take the world as a whole; what is it? A speck in the universe; a ball floating in
the air, surrounded by other worlds greater and more magnificent than itself.
Shall we love the world which hated and scorned, and ultimately slew our loved Redeemer?
The outward show has often the effect of deceiving.
Deceit is, indeed, one of the prominent features in man; he deceives others, he deceives himself.
The world is truly a false world. And does it not show the depravity of man’s heart when after tasting its bitters, feeling its pains, and experiencing its disappointments and sorrows, he should still cling
to
glorious thought that there is a Being who changes not!
Truly is he often seeking other friends, but God will make him know, by sad yet blessed experience, that there is no friend like Jesus; and that while other friends are fickle and changeable, He changes not.
Oh that we followed not this poor world as we do!
But oh, when we taste the preciousness of Jesus, what a heavenly morsel it is! It raises our drooping
spirits to contemplate the joy that awaits us in another world, the happiness that is laid up for us above, the glory that will crown the final end of our weary pilgrimage through a dying and unsatisfying world.
Come what may, pleasure or pain, happiness or woe, life or death, I am in the hands of the Lord
of Creation, the King of kings, and in His keeping no evil will befall me.
A bountiful Savior and a needy sinner just suit each other!
Is it to be obtained in the world, its pleasures and delights? No! the Christian will answer it cannot!
Happiness, if there be such a thing in this world, can only be obtained from Jesus. In His bosom
alone can we find repose.
I am persuaded that the more the believer has of sanctified sorrow, tribulation, and affliction in this dying world, the more he will have of happiness and glory in the blessed realms above.
I feel now as if death would be a welcome messenger to my soul, to waft me from this sinful world to Canaan’s joyful shore. Ah! it is a blessed thing to be able to meet death with a beaming countenance and a gladsome heart.
There have been times when amid pleasure and enjoyment I have loathed the very thought of death.
But when God afflicts a man, then he feels the vanity and deceitfulness of the world; and if he is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he will long to see his Redeemer, and be with Him in the abodes of happiness and light throughout an endless eternity!
I’m a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my all in all.
promises, they never fail. They have been indeed my chief support.
Oh, to have a simple trust in the Savior! He will not betray your confidence. He is a faithful and just God, merciful and gracious, and ever ready to lend an ear to
Open all your heart to Jesus, and He will open the fountain of His mercy to you.
He is elevated today, and is cast down tomorrow.
So it is, and so it will be in this changeful world, until we arrive at a better and brighter one, where
there will be no sin, and consequently no sorrow.
But oh, we should remember, that
Or, when a man’s affections are set upon the world, God makes that world his greatest enemy (and I feel it to be mine), and he is compelled to make Christ his Friend.
Oh, may every afflicted saint of God profit by the trials which God shall see fit to lay upon him! But
even in judgment, our heavenly Father will remember mercy.
can help me through.
I have felt such a willingness to die! a feeling that death would be no dreadful thing to me, having a
wish to leave this more dreadful world. But painful, yet no less blessed trial has done it all.
And oh, may I be able from my heart to thank God for having made the world my enemy, and Christ my Friend!
But mark this: if the world does not suit you, you will be sure to have a welcome in heaven. But
A few short years will bring the Christian to the end of his pilgrimage, and to the beginning of his eternal rest!
But, oh, let us never forget that
And were it not for the corruption within, and our guilty consciences, no evil from without
could materially affect us.
But may we remember that
which, like the preceding ones, will flit quickly by.
Solemn thought!
We also shall soon pass away, and the place where we dwelt and lived will know us no more.
The ravages of time, written in letters too deeply engraved to be erased, are stamped upon everything mortal.
Oh, how solemn is the reflection! Our short period of existence here on earth should be taken up with preparation for another and a better world.
And yet poor, blind, fallen man seldom gives the question a moment’s consideration, while his whole thoughts are absorbed in obtaining that which, even while he seizes it, crumbles in his grasp.
I feel this with regard to myself; and oh, that I always may have a keen perception of it! The least prosperity or participation in happiness, as the world terms it, sets me mad after chasing the poor baubles, as if I had never known their deceitfulness and insufficiency. Does not this show the fallen nature of man in a glaring light?
’I know the right, and yet the wrong pursue.’
What reason has he to be otherwise, when every step of his journey, every incident, however minute,
that occurs in his pilgrimage through life, is ordered and ordained by his heavenly Father, his loving
Savior, his best Friend?
True it is that he has often more care, more affliction, than the worldling has; while the worldling prospers in his way, the believer is often bowed down with care and trouble, scarcely able to struggle through life.
The ungodly enjoy the pleasures and wealth of this world, only to realize more bitterly their loss in the world to come; while the Christian sees the worst side of this world, and tastes more of its bitters, only to enhance the happiness of a better world, where he will enjoy the sweetest bliss.
But even in the deepest afflictions the believer in Christ has cause to be happy, if he can but realize
the truth that the All seeing Jehovah, who framed and created out of nothing the vast universe, and
who guides its great machinery, has ordered that event for his essential good.
Are there no choice beings who reap the fruits of their Redeemer’s love? Yes! God has a chosen church, and for them the blood of Jesus was shed, to redeem them from the curse and to bring them to heaven!
I have been led to leave the outcome of it all in God’s hands, and to feel that He will do all for the
best, yes, better than the wisest of us could imagine or desire. One mightier than all is for me!
Oh, to trust Him, though He may seem at the time to blight our fond hopes; to have a thankful
heart for mercies undeserved!
How has He especially appeared to me today none but Himself can tell. And to repay it is
out of the power of mortal.
That which at one time made an apparent and indelible impression upon his mind is now entirely
forgotten, or, if not forgotten, viewed in a careless and indifferent light.
changes and fluctuations; and wherever it tends and winds its onward course, we often pursue the
same given track, and, unsuspecting and unalarmed, are led to the brink of a fearful precipice, and are lost to all eternity!
It is good for a man that he should reflect upon his own condition: what he is? and where bound?