December 29

"Maran-atha" (Our Lord will come).—1 Corinthians 16:22.

BECAUSE Jesus comes, how unworldly I should be! It cannot be of much moment whether I am rich or poor here, whether I am strong or weak, whether my days on this side of the Advent are shorter or longer. I am in the world for the briefest season. It is but a place of call where I halt on the way to the City of God. It is not my goal. It is not my portion. It is not my heart's metropolis.

Because Jesus is on His way, how holy I should be! His eyes will search and prove me. He will make inquiry into my unspoken thoughts. He will put my intentions into His scales. He will bring into the light of day the qualities and the principles of my soul. Let me remember that I have to deal with One who is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.

Because soon I shall look Jesus in the face, how busy I should be! I should be labouring for Him earnestly. I should redeem every opportunity. "Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee"—that should be my prayer: my life, in all its possibilities, in all its powers, in all that it is and has and can accomplish. I must beware of the ungirt loin and the unlit lamp.

Because I must meet Him so soon and so solemnly, what manner of person ought I to be in all holy conversation and godliness! It weakens my spiritual life immeasurably that I think seldom and superficially of the Second Advent of my King. "Midnight is past," sings the sailor on the Southern Ocean, "midnight is past; the Cross begins to bend." It is high time that I awoke out of sleep. When the sun rises and my Lord comes, I must not be ashamed before Him.