(Newman Hall, "The Choice of Moses" 1867)
Christian, what is the value of all that which
you relinquish to follow Christ? Grant all that
may be urged in its favor. Let money, and
luxury, and fame, and power, and the pleasures
of sin in their fairest forms and largest measure,
be combined in one great mountain of attractive
fascination; and the question arises, "How long
will all this last?"
You know the story of the Eastern king, one
of whose courtiers, surveying the magnificence,
flatteringly asked, "What is lacking here?" The
monarch replied, with a sigh, "Continuance."
Yes! a worm is hidden in the loveliest blossom,
a serpent creeps amid the fairest flowers,
the wealthiest summer beckons winter frosts, and
the longest and the brightest days close in night.
Of what avail is it to say, "Soul, you have plenty of
good things laid up for many years; take your ease;
eat, drink, and be merry;" when the message is given,
"This night your soul shall be required of you!"
What will be your remorse at death if you shall have
chosen, as your chief portion, that which thus perishes?
How terrible to find everything you had
struggled to gain slipping from your grasp . . .
money,
luxuries,
position,
power,
learning,
fame;
all retreating and leaving you alone!
Was it for this you refused the enduring
riches, and the endless delights of piety?
Alas! what multitudes in the unseen world now
regret, when it is too late, so mad a choice! What
to them is every remembrance of the pleasures of
sin, but fuel added to the fire of their remorse?
"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused
to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
chose to be mistreated along with the people of
God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of
Christ as of greater value than the treasures of
Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward."
Hebrews 11:24-26
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