SOME of the children who read these lines, no doubt live in a timbered country where the land has to be cleared of the logs and stumps before it can be tilled, and know how it has to be done. In some countries where the trees grow so large, a great many use powder to blow out the stumps, which is quite an exciting time for the children. After the hole is dug under the stump, and the powder is put in, with a long fuse attached to it, and the hole filled up again, everything is ready; and as soon as the fuse is lighted, away they all scamper to find refuge behind a tree or something else, and then wait with breathless suspense for the explosion. This reminds me of those who have sought refuge in Christ, from the coming judgment which is hanging over this world. After we are safe in Him, we should watch with eagerness for His coming for us, which means death and judgment for those left behind.
Now, a word to those of my readers who. have not sought refuge in Christ from the coming judgment. Suppose one of the little boys would linger around the stump after the fuse had been lighted, in spite of the entreaties from the others to flee for safety, you would think he was very foolish, wouldn’t you? Let me say, dear reader, if you are still rejecting Christ as your Saviour; you are worse than he! For God has condemned this world for rejecting His Son, and has placed the charge upon it, and the fuse, which is “time,” has been burning for over-eighteen hundred years.
Every moment you linger around in this world without Christ as your hiding place, and reject God’s call, you are like the boy who would. linger around the stump, just as though there was no danger, when in the next instant the blast, might explode, which would mean sure death for him. Now just so with you; when. Christ comes, which is apt to take place at any moment, then all that will be left for you will be judgment.
Would you be like the boy and linger around a stump that the next instant might be torn to pieces? You say, No. Be careful you are not doing something worse. What a sad thing it would be to be left to that time when—
“Too late, too late will be the cry, Jesus of Nazareth has passed by.”
“Flee from the wrath to come.” Matt.
3:7. F. E B.
ML 07/01/1900