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A beautiful hymn that I recall from long ago is entitled, "One Sweetly Solemn Thought." This
hymn expresses the sobering thought that we are all nearer to eternity in these words:
Today I'm nearer to my home than e'er I've been before." One year is past and we now stand at the threshold of another. The passing of time ought to remind us all that one day we shall go the way of all flesh and that our days are "swifter than a weaver's shuttle." It should also cause us to ponder the question, "Where shall I spend eternity?" I cannot conceive of eternal existence apart from the holiness, love, and comfort of God the Father. Such a place is described in Holy Writ as "outer darkness," filled only with "weeping" and "gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 8:12). Can you imagine such a place, inhabited by the refuse of the earth from the wicked of Noah's day to the likes of Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, rapists, murderers, and other enemies of God? But because God "so loved the world," (John 3:16) no one has to live in such an eternal state. The faithful child of God can confidently sing that, "Today I'm nearer to my home" — a home where the righteous dwell in eternal splendor and glory, in a land where no tears ever come and across which no shadow of sorrow, heartache or woe will ever fall. |