Meditations

THE LAST WILL BE FIRST. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Luke 13.30. Many people live common, ordinary lives, but reach maturity in Christ. Yet many people who have taken vows to become Christ's chosen brides have been showered with God's graces, and invited to taste the heavenly manna, but yet they languish in faintheartedness and immaturity. Many sinners who have spent years wandering far from God, and paying no heed to the gospel, all at once turn away from their former life in earnest and fervent repentance. And often they surpass people who have tasted the gifts of the Holy Spirit from their earliest youth, and on whom God has granted His sweetest blessings. How beautiful it will be when those who are last win the garland of victory in this way, and by their example become the condemnation of those who were first. But how painful it will be for those who were first when they become last, and find themselves behind people for whom they were once models. How painful it will be to lose their garlands, and to lose them for a few diversions that slow them down. I cannot help looking at the quiet, worshipful spirits of certain people who live in the world, and see how detached from the world and humble they are, without blushing with shame when I see how often we, who ought to be doing nothing but God's business, are dissolute, vain, and attached to our worldly goods. So let us hasten to run, for fear of being left behind.