Is the thought of the Lord's nearness welcome or unwelcome to your soul? Is the expectation of being with Him, without notice or delay, pleasant to your heart?
The true practical walk of the believer gives a right answer to these inquiries. "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:55Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:5)). "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door" (James 5:99Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. (James 5:9)). Moderation, or holy restraint in the use of present things, and gracious, liberal consideration of others, here approved as among the right ways of a saint, are such as would stand the light of the Lord if He were at this moment to appear.
Are our ways, then, such as suit the thought of His nearness and would abide the light of His presence? Have they or have they not this voice in them, "Come, Lord Jesus"? Could carnal levity, spiritual sloth, vanity, uncleanness, or the desire of gain, or could the lust of distinction,-or even the haughty look, have a voice in it?
We know that these things cannot desire the day of the Lord, for it is to them a day of "darkness, and not light." Our behavior should be such as would introduce us to His presence without disturbance. For He comes, not to regulate, but to gladden us; not to put us in a right path, but to close a right path in glory. J. G. Bellett