J.A. Matteson
In the final analysis you are alone in the world, all around you is temporal, including those near and dear to you. "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ" (2 Thess. 3:5). In a mechanized world rife with chatter and noise of every variety your heart can easily become disquieted, the peace of God becoming an academic ideal rather than a daily experience. A heavy melancholy unexpectedly washes over you, and you are not sure of its source as all appears well in your circumstances. What is this strange inward sense of unsettledness and whence does it come? It comes from God and is His gift to His children. Slow down, look upon Christ, ask the Lord to allow you to perceive the spiritual reality of your present surroundings, marvel in the moment of your journey. Yesterday is history and tomorrow a mere possibility. Today, this day, now, grace directs your heart upward to the heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Do you sense it, that ache within you for what is transcendent, eternal? Can you identify that unsettled feeling of melancholy that something here on earth is missing? Within your heart is the earnest of your salvation, the Spirit of Christ, directing your heart upward, higher and higher, to the heavenly echo, to a city not built with hands, to a dwelling place fashioned by the love of God. The heavenly echo gently calls to you constantly, but the noise of the world can muffle it. You notice it in the gentle wind through the leaves in autumn, the starry host as brilliant diamonds laid against the black velvet of night, the bright glimmer of light upon the water, an eagle soaring upon the updraft of mountain currents, the endearing warm familiar smile of family and friends. For all creation unceasingly speaks forth in proclaiming the glory of the LORD. Be quiet, listen for it, in an instant your heart is calmed in Christ, safe and secure. You realize you are indeed alone in the world, that all may be taken away at any time. Oddly enough, it is well with your soul, because the love of Christ given you endures forever and you shall forever be with the Lord. In a moment, in a very short while, time will give way to eternity, where eye has not seen nor heart imagined all that God has prepared for those who love Him. Rejoice, beloved, for your Savior is gently calling, He will return for you soon. Give thanks in all things and at all times, rejoice in the love of Christ, marvel that eternity has no end, neither does the love of Christ toward you.
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