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. 349 - If Christ Should Come Today, December 14
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to
stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:36
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Christ bids us watch, that we may be accounted worthy to escape the
things that are coming on the earth. It is of the greatest importance that
we heed this warning. The enemy of all righteousness is on our track,
seeking to lead us to forget God.
We should be filled with joy at the thought of Christ’s soon appearing.
To those that love His appearing He will come without sin unto salvation.
But if our minds are filled with thoughts of earthly things, we cannot look
forward with joy to His appearing.
“If I knew that Christ were coming in a few years,” one says, “I
should live very differently.” But if we believe that He is coming at all,
we should live just as faithfully as if we knew that He would appear in
a few years. We cannot see the end from the beginning, but Christ has
provided sufficient help for every day in the year.
All we have to do with is this one day. Today we must be faithful to
our trust. Today we must love God with all the heart and our neighbor
as ourselves. Today we must resist the temptations of the enemy, and
through the grace of Christ gain the victory. Thus we shall watch and
wait for Christ’s coming. Each day we should live as if we knew that
this would be our last day on this earth. If we knew that Christ would
come tomorrow, would we not crowd into today all the kind words, all
the unselfish deeds, that we could? We should be patient and gentle, and
intensely in earnest, doing all in our power to win souls to Christ....
I urge you to turn your thoughts from worldly things and center them
on the things of eternity. Christ has placed everlasting life within your
reach, and He has promised to give you help in every time of need.... We
should never rest satisfied with present attainments. If we put mind and
heart into the work of reaching God’s ideal for us, if we go to Christ, the
mighty helper, for aid, He will give us the very assistance that we need.
He will bestow on us the very power that will enable us to be victorious
in the struggle against evil.
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