“ALL’S well that ends well” does not mean that a man may live a wicked life and be all right at last, for a wrong road can never lead to the right goal.
Sin is a terrible thing. It may at the start appear fair and pleasant as the bubbling spring, but the end is a dark and tempestuous sea. It always ruins where it reigns; when it is finished it brings forth death.
Leave the crooked road to crooked folk, and make at once for the only road that can end well, and let your decision be, “Christ for me now and forever.”
Many people want to be on the right road, but they also love the wrong one. They remind me of a little fellow who made some very fine mud pies, and was sitting beside them crying bitterly. Someone who knew him inquired as to the cause of his grief.
“I want to go home to dinner,” he sobbed.
“Well, my boy it is dinner-time; run along home at once.”
“But I want to stay here,” cried the little boy. And because he could not do both, he sat and wept.
Ah! this is a true picture of many people: they would like to have both—the mud pies of this world, and the Bread of Life; the one now and the other hereafter. But it is quite clear that the prodigal son of Luke 15 could not sit by the swine trough, and the father’s table at the same time: one must be left, if the other is to be enjoyed. If you would walk in the road that ends well, you must leave the road the end of which is death.
There must be a bowing to the Lord Jesus; surrender to Him can only put your feet in the right way. You cannot direct your own steps. We need first a Saviour, then a guide: the Lord Jesus is both. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and all who trust in Him have all they need forever. Do not be afraid to commit yourself in simple trust to Him. He will lead you in wisdom’s ways; and all her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
If the past troubles your conscience, bring it to the Lord Jesus. His blood can cleanse away all its stains. If you fear as you look into the future, bring it to Him, for He can make you safe forever. If the present is full of difficulties, bring all to Him, for He can clear the way and give you peace and joy from day to day. Come with your past, present and future to Him, and let Him put you right, then all will be well along the road, and all will be well at the end of it too.
ML-07/28/1935