p. 260 | Very Short and Very Long

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 1, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 17.

Very Short and Very Long.

THERE are some things very short, and some things very long. God in his word tells us of both of these, and bids us look at them.

1. Life is very short. God speaks of it as a "shadow" (1 Chron. 24:15); a "weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6); a "flower" (Ps. 103:15); a "leaf" (Isa. 64:6); a "handbreadth" (Ps. 39:5); a "vapor" (Jas. 4:14); a "sleep" (Ps. 90:5); a "flood" (Ps. 90:5). Is not life, then, short? If it be like these, it must be short indeed.

2. Time is very short. It is made up of many lives, yet it is short. The "time is short," says Paul (1 Cor. 7:29); the "world passeth away," says John (1 John 2:17). A few years will end all.

3. The sinner's joy is short. It is but "for a moment," says Job (20:5); "The fashion of this world passeth away" (1 Cor. 7:31). He may laugh and dance and be gay, and take his ease and be merry; but his joy soon comes to an end. It fades away, and leaves nothing behind it but grief.

4. The saint's sorrow is short. It is "but for a moment" (2 Cor. 4:17). It may be heavy, and hard to bear, but it is soon over and it leaves no shadow behind. When it is done, all is joy for ever.

These are some of the things that are very short. They are spoken of by God, that you may think upon them. Will you not? Look back at the past years of your life, and look onward, and let these things that are so short—so very short—be looked at in the light of the past and of the coming time.

But there are other things that are long—very long,—so long that man cannot count them. They are forever and ever. Let us ask you to think of them also. God bids you think of them.

1. God himself. He is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps. 90:2). His life is throughout all eternity, for he is "the King eternal and immortal" (1 Tim. 1:17). How well for us to have this God for our God—to have him for our portion in such a changing world!

2. God's love. "The mercy of the Lord," says David, "is from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps. 103:17). The love of God changes not. His mercy never dies. His grace never grows old.

3. The life to come. It is "everlasting life" (John 3:16); there is no death in this life, and no end. He who gets it, gets it forever and ever. What must it be to have eternal life!

4. The saint's joy. At God's right hand are "pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16:11); the joy which the ransomed of the Lord obtain is "everlasting joy" (Isa. 35:10). How blessed to have joy like this—joy that shall never end! —Sel.