"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4:18
The upward course of the righteous is not always smooth. Often there are difficulties, winding ways of perplexity, and annoying obstacles of hard trial; yet it leads eventually to the invigorating heights of final victory in Christ! Often the ascent is so gradual, the path so circuitous that its celestial destiny is not obvious to the unenlightened eye. The zig-zag course is designed by God to break the force of the hill lest the ascent be too steep, too breath-taking, too difficult. By faith, however, we are certain that the path He chooses for us is ever onward and upward toward the noonday splendor of full blessing. He has promised that it shall end in "perfect day." Our Saviour, as He did at the wedding at Cana, reserves the "best wine" until the last!
Recently someone sent me a bulletin in which Rev. Kenneth Cober points out that the worldly man's broadway of carnal desire is "a dead-end street that terminates in frustration and despair. Lord Byron gave himself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of pleasure, but at the age of 35 he was writing -
My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flowers and fruits of love are gone,
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone.
Compare the word of Lord Byron with those of Adam Clarke, a Christian saint and Biblical expositor. At 85 we hear him saying - 'I have passed through the springtime of life. I have withstood the heat of its summer. I have culled the fruits of its fall. I am even now enduring the rigors of its winter, but at no great distance, I see the approach of a new, eternal springtime. Hallelujah!'"
Yes, the worldly avenue of pleasure is a dead-end street; but those of us who are on the narrow "shining pathway" know that it progresses toward God and will eventually terminate in a blaze of glory in His presence!
"Bread For Each Day"
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