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THE PRESENT

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 31, 1878

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 5.

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THE PRESENT.

By Eliza H. Morton

The past is forever gone, the future is uncertain, and the present alone is ours. It is a sad truth, daily demonstrated, that any moment may end our earthly existence, and it is a startling fact that every morning thousands see the sun rise in the east, who, ere it sinks in the west, close their eyes in death. Is it not wise, then, to improve the present?
If the “Father of lights” sees fit to chasten us, let us remember that “no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.” The furnace in which the gold is tried is not to be compared with the future dwelling-place of the precious metal; so “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
When to-morrow comes it will be more, and when the day of the Lord cometh it will be present time. We can be prepared for earth’s final solemn scenes, if we do present duty and obey present truth.
ELIZA H MORTON.
Allen’s Corner, Me.