HOW pleasant it is when the toil of perhaps twenty-four hours or more is over and the fishermen are nearing home. The long toil makes it all the more a delight to them. So we see in our picture this week, the fishermen looking eagerly ahead to see what they can of their home.
Have you ever thought of the joy it must be to be nearing our home above—to be with the Lord Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us?
It is good for us to remember we are not to be here on earth forever. This is a scene where there is sorrow and suffering, the result of sin, and as we see it all around us we can rejoice that God has, in grace, provided a better place for man. But the word of God tells us there is not only a better place—a home above—but it also tells us of a place of torment and that is where God will send all the unbelieving. You may ask, Why will God do that? The reason is, they would not take God’s way of salvation—God’s way of having their sins put away, so God being holy could not have sin in His presence and therefore He must separate them from Him and that will be in torment.
How will it be with you, dear reader? Do you believe in Jesus as the One God sent to die for you? If you do then you can rejoice that your portion will be where Jesus is. That will be your eternal home. You will be able to say, He was separated from God on Calvary’s cross because of my sins, but He is beyond it all now, in the presence of God, and is but waiting to take me to be forever with Himself. What a bright and blessed prospect that is! May you rejoice then that each day brings you nearer home.
But to those who cannot say that, let me warn you to put off no longer coming to Jesus with all your sins and get to know Him as the One who has borne your sins in His own body on the tree; then you will not have to be separated from God on account of your sins, but your happy home will be with Jesus, and yon will rejoice that each day brings you nearer to it. It is good to be able to say “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24).
ML 04/22/1906