A long, hot day of toil was over. Weary workers thronged the streets of the busy city, nearly all of them intent on a destination, a plan for that particular evening's occupation, or for the indulgence of fleshly desires. Some, sad to say, seemed to give little thought to the where, why, when, or what of the immediately approaching hours. These, for the most part, stood idly on street corners or gazed blankly into shop windows—the human flotsam and jetsam of every large city.
Friend, do you know where you are going? Is your destiny marked out and the way plain before you? Are you seeking the satisfactions of this present evil world, or are your eyes set on the joyful end of the way at the Lord's right hand in glory? He has said through the Psalmist: "Thou wilt skew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psa. 16:1111Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11).
Suddenly, louder than the usual din of home-going cars and crowds, came the screech of brakes, a piercing shriek, and an agonized cry. The instant swirl of people towards one point near the street corner indicated the place of tragedy. Through the crowd a helmeted policeman shouldered his way, seeming to clear a path for a calm-faced man of God following hard on his heels. Both were needed: the officer of the law to restore order and to expedite those duties attendant on preserving life; the Christian minister, to offer spiritual aid and comfort insofar as possible.
Already the policeman's duties were partially discharged. From the corner call-box he had summoned ambulance and squad car, and knew they were on the way. As for the minister, in tender solicitude he had knelt for a moment beside the unconscious form of the young woman lying white and still in the street. Then his attention turned to her companion, a young man near her age, limp with shock and staring uncomprehendingly at the injured girl.
Taking the young man's unresisting hand, the Christian questioned: "Your wife?"
Almost inaudibly the answer came: "No, but soon to be—we had planned. Now"—and his voice rose to a cry—"if she is gone, what am I living for?"
As though roused by the well-loved voice, the recumbent girl slowly opened her eyes, and her wandering gaze finally fastened on her fiancé’s face. At the sorrowful cry, "What am I living for?" a faint smile touched her lips.
In an ecstasy of hope, the young man threw himself on his knees beside her. "Rose, Rose, don't leave me. Without you, my Rose, what have I to live for?"
Very slowly and brokenly the injured girl answered: "God knows best, Fred. He knows I am His and ready for His call. He knows—oh, Fred—He knows you are yet in your sins. You are not His child. He is giving you another chance, another opportunity to believe in Jesus. Receive Him, Fred—and meet— me—there."
A gush of crimson from the pale lips stifled the faltering voice, and the fainting girl relaxed in the arms of the ambulance attendant. With gentle care she was placed on the stretcher and it, in turn, was rolled into the ambulance. In a daze, the young man followed, and the Christian accompanied him, for he saw his work for the Lord clearly before him.
Friend, what are you living for? In God's love and mercy, you have been granted the inestimable boon of life. When He formed man, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:77And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)). As an off-spring of that first man, Adam—and we all are—you partake of that Adam— life, of that same sinful nature that chose to believe Satan's lie in the Garden of Eden. Because of this, man's great failure, the epistle to the 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that "In Adam all die."
Are you "in Christ"? If so, your happy destiny with Christ is assured; and though the road that leads to the Christian's home in glory may often be rough, it will be smoothed by the comforting sense of His presence. Will you take Christ, the Savior of sinners, as your Lord? With Him as your object, His love, His life, His ineffable sweetness will flood your soul with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Then you will know "what you are living for."