Not Yet | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 8, 1875

Not Yet.

"Not yet," said the fair young school-boy, There is time in the future for me; My fun must not be interrupted, The pleasures of life I must see. When I am a man I will tell you How the counsel of truth, so sublime, Reached the deep of my soul's affection, With radiance my heart to enshrine.

"Not yet," said that young man of twenty, My school summer days are o'er; And now in pursuance of business, For riches and honor I explore. Should God in his mercy thus bless me With riches, and honor, and fame, Riper years of my life in devotion Shall herald abroad his dear name.

"Not yet," said the man of business, My cares are too many to lay by; Soon I will retreat to the quiet of life, And then can get ready to die. But the rush of my business is such, I cannot find time now to pray, But if God will have mercy and spare my life, I will serve him at some future.

Roll on, ye years of oppression; Borne on by the flight of time; Bring back the sweet memories of childhood, That around me so dearly entwine. Come back to me dear old homestead, The laurel, the oak, and the pine; The school-house, the church-yard, the snow bells How sweetly in memory they chime.

Long years in exile I have wandered In the path that I knew was wrong; I neglected the advice of a mother For the gain of a paltry song. That gain to my soul has been bitter, That song to my ear gives pain; I'll fling to the fiend his own treasure, And seek mercy and pardon again.

"Not yet" is a thief of destruction, And hundreds are led in that throng— The monarch, the peasant, the drunkard, Are deceived by its syren song. Oh, may it never be your lot To spend years in folly and pride, To be chilled by the cold, sombre shadows Of the sorrows of life's ebbing tide. —Sel.