Spurgeon: December AM
* 12/30/AM
"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof."
--Ecclesiastes 7:8
Look at David's Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right
hand, expecting until His enemies be made his footstool. "As He
is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or
you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire,
or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then,
poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning
thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its
appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect
with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the
flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end
thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up
in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you
shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to
be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you may be
satisfied when you wake up in His likeness. That rough-looking
diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all
sides. It loses much--much that seemed costly to itself. The
king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with
trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that
coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now
so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare
yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and
this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience
have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be
set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one
ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be Mine," saith
the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "Better is the
end of a thing than the beginning thereof."