Thursday. [I John 1:8–2:6; Mark 13:31–14:2]

What the Apostle directed us towards yesterday, the Gospel now suggests directly to us: Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time.… Watch ye therefore ... lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping (Mark 13:33, 35–6). It is necessary to wait, and every instant to keep in mind that the Lord is about to appear and shine like lightning from one end of the universe to the other. It is thought by some that it is possible to replace this waiting upon the Lord with waiting for death. This is good, or at least this should be done. But awaiting the coming of the Lord is one thing, and awaiting death another. They lead to different thoughts, and to different feelings born under the impact of these different thoughts. Await the day of the Lord, when all will end in an irrevocable determination. After our death, time will still continue in an undecided state; but the day of the Lord will assign everything for eternal ages, and it will be sealed, so you cannot expect any changes. “I have been waiting,” you say. So wait longer, and continue to wait. “But this,” you say, “will poison all my joys.” It will not poison your joys—it will only drive away from your everyday life those joys that are illegitimately so-called. You will still rejoice, only in the Lord. It is possible to wait for the Lord with this joy; and if the Lord finds you in this joy, He will not call you to account, but will praise you.