The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. Jeremiah 8:20.
The Lord is coming. The earth’s history is soon to close. Are you prepared to meet the Judge of the earth? Bear in mind that “he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy” (James 2:13). How terrible it will be in the last great day to find that those with whom we have been familiarly associated are separated from us forever; to see the members of our family, perhaps our own children, unsaved; to find those who have visited our homes, and eaten at our tables, among the lost. Then we shall ask ourselves the question, Was it because of my impatience, my un-Christlike disposition; was it because self was not under control, that the religion of Christ became distasteful to them?
The world must be warned of the soon coming of the Lord. We have but a little time in which to work. Years have passed into eternity that might have been improved in seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and in diffusing the light to others. God calls upon His people who have great light, much labor bestowed upon them, and are established in the truth to now work for themselves and others as they have never done before. Make use of every ability; bring into exercise every power, every entrusted talent; use all the light that God has given you to do others good. Do not try to be preachers; but become ministers for God.
As the truth is better understood by the workers, it will ever appear in a more striking light; as you seek to enlighten others, with your minds under the holy influence of the Spirit of God, your attention will be directed toward those things that are of eternal interest. In such efforts, mingled with prayers for divine light, your own hearts will throb with the quickening influence of the grace of God; your own affections will glow with more divine fervor, and your whole Christian life will be more of a reality, more earnest, and more prayerful. Thus by Christ abiding in the heart, you may become laborers together with God.—The Home Missionary, February 1, 1898.
This devotional is taken from Ye Shall Receive Power by Ellen G. White.