Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my
absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose. Philippians 2:12-13
William
Law, in his terrible, cool voice, said,… ‘If you have not chosen the Kingdom of
God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead.’ Those
are hard words to take. Will it really make no difference whether it was women
or patriotism, cocaine or art, whisky or a seat in the Cabinet, money or
science? Well, surely no difference that matters. We shall have missed the end
for which we are formed and rejected the only thing that satisfies. Does it
matter to a man dying in a desert by which choice of route he missed the only
well?
It is a
remarkable fact that on this subject Heaven and Hell speak with one voice. The
tempter tells me, ‘Take care. Think how much this good resolve, the acceptance
of the Grace, is going to cost.’ But Our Lord equally tells us to count the
cost. Even in human affairs great importance is attached to the agreement of
those whose testimony hardly ever agrees. Here, more. Between them it would
seem to be pretty clear that paddling is of little consequence. What matters,
what Heaven desires and Hell fears, is precisely that further step, out of our
depth, out of our control.
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