In our Christian pilgrimage it is well,
for the most part, to be looking forward.
Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal.
Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation,
or for the inspiring of our love, the future must,
after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith.
Looking into the future we see sin cast out,
the body of sin and death destroyed,
the soul made perfect,
and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river passed,
the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city;
he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates,
hailed as more than conqueror,
crowned by the hand of Christ,
embraced in the arms of Jesus,
glorified with Him,
and made to sit together with Him on His throne,
even as He has overcome
and has sat down with the Father on His throne.
The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness
of the past and the gloom of the present.
The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth.