Keep Pace with the Light.
By L. G. Meeker
WHILE the children of Israel were journeying toward the promised land or the earthly Canaan, they encountered many things that should serve as warnings to the followers of Christ in the “time of the end.” For instance, as long as they were obedient to the divine will, during the dark and gloomy hours of night, when perhaps, wild animals were lurking upon every side of them, and their pathway was beset with impediments that would have made it quite impossible for people to travel without the aid of some light, a pillar of fire went before them. Thus God gently led them through all the difficult places and he was their guide and luminary. When they were thirsty, he gave them water from the solid rock; when they hungered, he fed them upon the food of angels. He gave them also a list of animals sometimes used for food, of which he said, “Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you.” Lev. 11:8. Quite prominent upon this list, we find the flesh of the swine. This Infinite Wisdom foresaw would defile their bodies and generate disease, both in themselves and their offspring. But though God had expressly said of the swine, “He is unclean unto you,” the Jews persisted in eating the forbidden flesh. They also refused to hear the pleadings of Moses, and repeatedly transgressed the law of God by profaning his holy Sabbath and bowing down to graven images. Therefore, God withdrew his light from them, denied them the privilege of entering the promised land, and caused them to wander forty years in the wilderness of Sin, until death closed their miserable career. The fate of those who are at the present time journeying toward the heavenly Canaan will be similar if they neglect to keep pace with the light which is leading them through the last-day perils to the New Jerusalem. If we are disobedient, God will withdraw from us and forbid our entering the holy city, as surely as he forbade the Jews from entering the land of Canaan. The command relating to the Sabbath day is just as obligatory now as it was then; and shall we set the commandments of Jehovah at naught? Shall we continue to trample upon his holy law? Will Seventh-day Adventists, who have accepted the message of the third angel, refuse to keep pace with the light of truth? God will not always bear with us. The time is fast coming when ignorance will not be an excuse. The truth is being brought so plainly before the people that nothing but immediate action can save us from the “wrath of the Lamb.” May God give us strength to perform every known duty.