DECEMBER 10

So we will always be with the Lord.
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Even the sweetest glimpses of Christ are short—how transitory they are! One moment, our eyes see Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but then the moment passes, and we do not see Him, for our beloved withdraws Himself from us. Like a roe or a young hare, He leaps over the mountains of division; He is gone to the land of spices and no longer feeds among the lilies.

If today He deigns to bless us
With a sense of pardoned sin,
He tomorrow may distress us,
Make us feel the plague within.

How sweet the prospect of the time when we will no longer see Him from a distance but rather face to face—when He will not be like a traveller staying only for a night but will enfold us in the bosom of His eternal glory. We will not see Him for a little while, but

Millions of years, our wondering eyes,
Shall o’er our Savior’s beauties rove;
And myriad ages we’ll adore,
The wonders of His love.

In heaven, we will not be interrupted by care or sins; no weeping will dim our eyes; no earthly business will distract our happy thoughts. We will have nothing to prevent us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with tireless eyes. If it is so sweet to see Him now and then, how wonderful to gaze on that blessed face forever, without a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a tired and sinful world. When will this blessed day dawn? Rise, unsetting sun!

If to die is to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is swallowed up in a sea of victory and is definitely gain.