It was a bright sunny day, and a gentleman who was visiting in the country asked a little lad to come for a walk with him. They walked along for a short distance till they came to a path that turned off to one side. It was fringed with pretty flowers and looked very inviting, but the little lad held back.
“Why don’t you want to come along this path?” asked the gentleman.
“Because before you go very far you will get into a patch of mud,” replied the little fellow.
He knew the end of that path, and he was not deceived; the beginning was pleasing enough, but he considered its end.
How like life’s pathway this is! Sometimes young folks, starting out in life, are taken up with the glitter of present things, things which Satan uses to hide from them the awful judgment which lies at the end of a life of sin. God in His Word warns us of the end of the path, because HE KNOWS. He warns us in love too, because He cares for our souls. Listen to His Word which says, “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Eccl. 11:99Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. (Ecclesiastes 11:9).
God not only warns of coming judgment, but He Himself has provided a way of escape. He gave His own Son to die for our sins upon the cross of Calvary that He might save our souls from eternal hell. It would have been very unpleasant for the gentleman of whom we were speaking to get into the mud, but he could, no doubt, have stepped out again quite easily. If you reject God’s gracious offer of salvation, dear reader, and find yourself in a lost eternity, there will be no escape. Heed the warning NOW, before it is too late.
ML 05/27/1956