REMEMBER NOW!

Lake County Mail, Issue 12, 13 August 1947, Page 3

REMEMBER NOW!

Engraven in letters of stone on the walls of the school which I entered day by day were these words from the Bible: “Remember now they Creator in the days of thy youth.” The important word in that sentence is “now”—“sometime ” may be too late.

If you have ever travelled in the East one of the first things to strike you will be the familiarity of the surroundings—it will be as though you had been there before and of course you have, metaphorically speaking, every time you have read your Bible. In Palestine and India, Egypt and Syria one sees the same scenes as our Lord saw, the women standing near the well with a water-pot on her head, the sower going forth to sow, the Pharisees standing in the Temple to pray, and so on. The scenes seem so familiar for we have heard about the country from our youth up. Our Lord took his parables from life. Once there was a young man travelling in India with a camera. He was in Simla and noticed the crowds in the streets, dressed in their best. On enquiry he learned that one of the native princes was passing through to his wedding. The young man ' solicited the information that it would be about an hour before the prince came past, and so he decided to have his lunch first; there was plenty of time, he could still take the photograph of the wedding procession. While sitting at the table in the restaurant he heard the noise of drums, and rushed out to sec what was happening. Too late, there was the prince’s carriage with his escort disappearing round a bend in the road. He had missed his opportunity! Another story to illustrate the point of this article. Towards the end of last century. Queen Victoria arranged a visit to a little fishing village on the coast of Scotland. The people prepared for her, and on the day they waited about in their best clothes to welcome their sovereign. Time went by and no Queen appeared. At evening time they gave up hope —they went home disappointed. The next day they returned to their tasks in their ordinary working clothes, and lo and behold, the Queen arrived. How disappointed the people were that they had not waited for their sovereign. Who had made the error about the day, I do not know, but the fact remained that they were not prepared when the ’’Queen arrived.

Our Blessed Lord warns us to be prepared always, for we know not the time of His coming. So many people to-day are like those of the first century in Palestine, they procrastinate, “Time enough” they say, “Let me sow my wild oats while young, and then I will begin to think of other things”—but if we do not know the hour of our meeting with the Lord, how can we say there is plenty of time?

/ We know from our Lord’s treatment J of the penitent thief upon the Cross, that a death-bed repentance is not necessarily invalid, nor unheeded by God, but who are we to say how or when we shall die? We may not have time even for a death-bed repentance. Besides all this, the old proverb Ims it that “opportunity only knocks once.” It may not be our death-bed when Christ comes to us or wo go to Him. His call comes, the opportunity is offered day by day, even now. Some duty, some sacrifice, may knock at our door and find us not ready; our chance gone by. Wo should live this day a« if our last, and apart from that w'e should use, the motto of the Scout movement, “Be Prepared ” —be prepared to answer the cal! when opportunity knocks. Be prepared to answer the call of duty in unselfish giving. Our Lord’s parables were taken. from litre, and they apply to our life. We are living now the parables which our Lord bold us.

Yob are writing a gospel, a chapter each -day. By deeds that yon do, by words that you say;

Men read what you write, whether faithless or true, Say, what is the gospel according to you?

(Anon)

The wise virgins went into the marriage feast with the bridegroom when he came, the foolish ones were unprepared for hisj coming, and were shut out. They could blame no one but themselves, and we can blame no one but ourselves if we find ourselves shut out from Hea\cn, cut off from our Lord. The cry arises day by day from disappointed people, “ Too late, too late." And so “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth." P. C. WILLIAMS.