October 2, Morning
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven." — Colossians 1:5 · KJV
Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and mainstay of our joy here. It cheers our hearts to think often of heaven, for everything we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and worn with toil, but yonder is the land of rest, where the sweat of labor shall no more wet the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be banished for ever. To those who are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. Here we are always on the field of battle — so tempted within, and so harassed by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner is waved aloft in triumph, the sword is sheathed, and we hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal, where graves are unknown. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for nothing that defiles shall by any means enter that kingdom. Hemlock does not spring up in the furrows of the celestial fields. Oh, is it not joy that you are not to be in exile for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Yet let it never be said of us that we dream about the future and forget the present; rather, let the future sanctify the present to the highest uses. Through the Spirit of God, the hope of heaven is the most powerful force for producing virtue; it is a fountain of joyful effort, the cornerstone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigor, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights temptation with ardor, for the hope of the next world beats back the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labor without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.