"I HOPE to be with you on Saturday, but cannot tell you at what hour." So wrote a very dear relative, and great was the pleasure with which the announcement was received.
When the day came our first thoughts were of the dear one so soon expected. "Auntie will be here to-day," the children said to each other; "how nice it will be to see her again." Of course the usual duties had to be performed, for it would not do to neglect anything; all must be order, not confusion, when our visitor should arrive; so some went to school and others to household duties as usual.
We knew not when to expect her of whose coming we had heard, but we were ready, and longing to see her whenever she should come, and the hope of the pleasant meeting lent a charm to all our work; so that although we had to think and talk of many other matters, there was constantly in our hearts the anticipated pleasure of seeing one whom we all loved.
The day wore on, and the evening came, and yet she had not arrived. Some of us began to fear she would not come, and had almost given her up, when the sound of wheels was heard—they stopped at our gate—yes, Auntie had come!
I will not tell you of the joyful meeting, of the few pleasant days she passed with us, nor of the sorrowful good-byes which followed (for earthly joys soon pass away, and there is only one place where partings are unknown), as I want to speak to you of another coming One, whom it is our joy to expect, though we know not the day nor the hour of His coming.
The Lord Jesus is soon coming to take His loved ones home, and we are told to wait and watch for His coming. Do our hearts rejoice at the thought that He may come to-day? Do we long to see His face, to hear His voice? As we perform our necessary daily duties does the hope of His return brighten all we do? Alas! with many of us it is not so; we get occupied with the things of this world, our hearts become cold and forgetful; we are apt even to think that our Lord delayeth His coming, and to seek our own things in this world. Oh, let us wake up, let us watch and be sober, for surely the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Not the less would our duties be attended to, not the less diligently would our work down here be done, for everything would be done for Him and to Him, and all that is contrary to Him would be avoided, if this hope were the spring of all our actions. Let us seek to keep it bright and real in our hearts; too often it is but a doctrine in the head, not a real loving hope in the heart.
Are we really expecting our Lord to come? If so, surely our lives and ways will show it. Who is it we are looking for? That blessed Saviour who loved us, and gave Himself for us; who shed His blood on the cross to deliver us from hell; who has gone to prepare a place for us in the Father's house above.
What is it we are expecting? That He will take us up to be forever with Himself, free from all the sin, the trial, the pain of this life, to that bright place where death cannot come, and where sorrow and tears are unknown; where we shall see Him face to face, and be like Him. His own word to us is "Surely I come quickly." May our hearts readily and joyfully respond, "Even so come, Lord Jesus.”
M. M. B.