God Does Not Settle All Accounts
WE would not fail to keep before the minds of our readers that God's people are not yet delivered. God made a promise to Abraham, that he should be the "heir of the world," yet he died "not having received the promise." Thousands of faithful ones have died in like manner, looking to the future for the fulfillment of their hopes. We must not expect our reward in this life. If we would be the children of Abraham, we must be content, like him, to be "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Abraham was called the "friend of God," but it was only because he was willing to sacrifice all that he had and be a wanderer, for the sake of the truth of God. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." The professed follower of God should never plead as an excuse for neglecting to keep his commandments, that they will interfere with his business; our only business should be to serve God. If we do this, God may prosper us beyond all expectation, but if he does not, we should remember that "the Lord is not slack concerning his promise." God does not settle all his accounts in this life. The Lord, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, brings to view the future condition of those who will have their good things in this life, at the expense of God's law, as contrasted with those who serve him now. He says: "Because when I called, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not; therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit."