Evening, November 24
Go To Morning Reading
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands
to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy
want as an armed man.”
Proverbs 24:33, 34
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be
indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding
of the hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of
reasons to show that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by
these littles the day ebbs out, and the time for labour is all gone,
and the field is grown over with thorns. It is by little procrastinations
that men ruin their souls. They have no intention to delay for years—a few months will bring the more convenient season—to-morrow if you will, they will attend to serious things; but the
present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable, that they
beg to be excused. Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes, life
is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers.
Oh, to be wise, to catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the
wing! May the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty
of the worst sort awaits us, eternal poverty which shall want even
a drop of water, and beg for it in vain. Like a traveller steadily
pursuing his journey, poverty overtakes the slothful, and ruin overthrows
the undecided: each hour brings the dreaded pursuer nearer; he pauses
not by the way, for he is on his master’s business and must not tarry. As an armed man enters with authority
and power, so shall want come to the idle, and death to the impenitent,
and there will be no escape. O that men were wise be-times, and would
seek diligently unto the Lord Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall dawn
when it will be too late to plough and to sow, too late to repent
and believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that the seed time was
neglected. As yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May we obtain
them this night.