"Truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death." 1 Sam. 20:3.
So said David to Jonathan when he fled from King Saul. The king sought his life, and David realized his danger.
Reader, may it not be said of you, that there is but a step between you and death? But have you ever yet, like David, realized that such is really the case—that the brittle thread of life may snap at any moment? And what then?
Perhaps, like thousands more, you think there is no danger. Well, Nabal the Carmelite did not think there was but a step between him and death when he sent the contemptuous message to David,
"Shall I then take my bread, and my' water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?" 1 Sam. 25:11. But a few days after, God smote Nabal, and he died.
Neither did the rich man, whose ground brought forth abundantly, think there was any danger when he proposed to himself in the midst of his prosperity to eat, drink and be merry. Yet, God said unto him,
"Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke 12:20.
But, even should your life not be immediately cut short, it is at the longest "but a vapor that appeareth for a little and then vanisheth away." James 4:14. O, if you have never realized your danger, be persuaded to consider it NOW.
But, if there is, on the one hand, only a step between you and death, there is—thank God—a Savior at hand. He is willing to receive you, for He has said,
"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37.
"Only a step to Jesus;
Then why not take it now?
Come, and thy sin confessing,
To Him, thy Savior, bow.
Only a step to Jesus!
A step from sin to grace—
What has thy heart decided?
The moments fly apace.
Only a step to Jesus!
O, why not come and say,
Gladly to Thee, my Savior,
I give myself away?"
Awake then! awake ere it is too late! Hear the Word of the Lord,
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11.
"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28.