A young man at a beach was determined to go out in a little boat when the sea was much too rough for safety. The boatman strongly urged him not to attempt it; but the young man would not be dissuaded. He even offered the boatman double the ordinary charge if he would go with him.
Tempted against his better judgment, the boatman consented, and together they put out to sea. They had reached a point just beyond the pier when their boat encountered heavy seas. A violent wave engulfed them; the little boat capsized, and both of them were drowned.
Poor boatman! He thought to get two fares instead of one. He lost them both and his own life as well. Dear reader, beware of "trying to make the best of both worlds," lest in grasping for a shadow you lose hold of the substance.
There was another man who had a Friend who was always kind and gentle towards him. That man was Judas Iscariot, and he was the "familiar friend" of Jesus the Savior. Others who hated Jesus and thirsted for His blood bargained with Judas to sell Him to them for money. He covenanted with them to sell Him for thirty pieces of silver—the price of a slave. He thought to get the money, and perhaps thought that Jesus would deliver Himself. Judas got the money, but Jesus did not save Himself. When Judas realized it, "he repented himself," cast the silver at the feet of those wicked bargainers, and went and hanged himself. He had lost the Savior, the silver, and his own soul, too.
Dear reader, do you think to have the world now, with all its vanity and all its sin, and then the Savior when you can have no more of it? BEWARE! The "double fare" may cost you dearly. The only safe, satisfying, and unfailing portion is the Lord Jesus Christ—"the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." His precious blood cleanses from all sin; His love fills and satisfies the longing heart.
Before Judas left the world, he had forfeited the silver for which he had sold the Savior, and he had lost his own precious soul. Dear one, be wise in time. Eternity is near.