GODLINESS does not mean that we shall be permitted to go through life without participating in the ills that have come upon mankind because of the fall. But for Christians there is promised strength to endure, and the comfort of God to console. As one looks forward to the end of life on earth, there is the sure and glorious hope of a place with Christ in the Father’s house. Moreover, all service done for Him will be rewarded in that day when we appear at His judgment-seat—not to be judged for our sins, for that judgment took place at the cross, when our blessed Substitute bared His breast to receive the stroke that our iniquities deserved. But we shall give an account of all our service since we trusted Christ, and we shall receive reward or suffer loss according to whether we have lived to His glory or for our own pleasure.
“My life is a wearisome journey:
I’m sick with the dust and the heat,
The rays of the sun beat upon me,
The briars are wounding my feet;
But the city to which I am going
Will more than my trials repay;
All the toils of the road will seem nothing.
When I get to the end of the way.
When the last feeble footsteps are taken,
And the gates of the city appear,
When triumphant songs of redeemed ones
Sweetly fall on my listening ear;
When all that now seems mysterious
Shall be plain and be clear as the day—
Yes, the toils of the road will seem nothing.
When I get to the end of the way.”