Striving to Be Faithful
By Emily L. Derby
DEAR FRIENDS OF JESUS: It is near seven years since I first felt the efficacy of Jesus' atoning blood in my own behalf, and nearly four years since I first heard and heeded the Third Angel's Message. I am truly thankful for the light the Lord has given me, and feel a strong desire to walk in the light. I want to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;” but I do deeply regret that I have been so unfaithful to him who has purchased our salvation with his own blood. I have never served him as I ought, and I wonder that he has not cut me down as a cumberer of the ground; but for a few months past, I have been striving to be more faithful to God, and more active in his service than ever before. I feel that I must be up and doing while the day lasts, for I believe without a doubt, that the time will soon come when “he that is righteous will be righteous still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still,” and I earnestly desire to be a faithful laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. I have much sorrow for those who have a name to live and are dead, who are indulging the hypocrite's hope which shall perish, and for those who are living without God, and without hope in the world, who are content to be the slaves of fashion, who love the world, and the things of the world, who are “wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” I view them wandering in the broad and crooked road that leads to death, hastening to the brink of destruction, careless and insensible of danger. A sense of the wretched condition of my fellow beings seems at times to almost crush my heart with grief. Dear brethren and sisters, many of us have relatives of this pitiable class, and all have acquaintances; and will we not all join in prayer that will prevail, and with fasting, that the Lord will give them that repentance which is unto life, that their names may be written in heaven, and they be among the redeemed who shall sing the new song on mount Zion? Do we not shudder at the thought of the blood of souls resting upon us? O let us be faithful to warn sinners of their danger, and try to convince them of the only way for their escape, lest “our not doing should be set down among our darkest deeds.” I number one of the many who are not often privileged with meeting those of like precious faith, as there is no one besides myself within ten miles of this place who sacredly regards the seventh day Sabbath. But the Sabbath is to me truly a delight, the dearest day of the seven.55 We often speak of afflictions, and mine have sometimes seemed severe; but I trust they will prove to be for my good, and I now regard them as needful blessings. Of late they have been accompanied with so many mercies that I have only reason to rejoice. For a long time I felt to murmur because I did not see the hand of God in them, for my afflictions did not come like storm and tempest directly from God, but human agency was employed, and I was unreconciled; but now I feel that the Lord permits us to be afflicted in various ways, and the Lord does all things well. Dear brethren and sisters, let us not permit our thoughts to dwell too much on the trials by the way. We cannot make our path through this rough and stormy world, smooth and cloudless, but we can by the grace of God, walk in the strait and narrow way that Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords has trodden before us, and if we turn not aside, but hold out faithful to the end, we shall ere long reach the goodly, promised land, where all is love, peace and joy, where there will be perfect happiness, unalloyed by any of the sorrows, sufferings, temptations or sins which mar our enjoyment on our pilgrim journey thither. How joyful to contemplate the society that will be found there, when God the Father, and Jesus the Mediator, the holy angels, with the best of the inhabitants of this world, purified from all sin and made holy and immortal, shall meet to part no more. Then indeed will be fulness of joy and pleasures forever more. I hardly dare anticipate such happiness for myself, and yet the hope I have in him is worth more to me than all the perishable treasures of this world. At times I think I have a foretaste of the joys of that world of which I seem to have a distant view; for I am sometimes as happy as I think I can be in this state of existence, but at other times, I have bitter sorrow on account of my unworthiness. I have for a few months past been a subscriber for the Review and Herald, and hope I shall be, while I remain in this world. The poetry in No. 8, Vol. x, entitled, “The Meeting Place,” is to me peculiarly comforting. Brethren and Sisters, I often wish that I could enjoy your society, and by the grace of God I will strive to meet you on mount Zion. Pray for me. EMILY L. DERBY.
Addison, Vt., 1857.