February 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (Heb. 4:9).

Devotional

We have not yet come to the heavenly rest. We still are approaching it, and—oh ecstatic thought!—we shall reach it at last. Everything in our present course reminds us that we are getting nearer to home—just as the seaweed floating in the water and birds venturing from their nooks to fly by the ship are signs to a sea-voyager that he is getting near to his port.

Are you bereaved? Do not weep! Earth has one less tie and heaven has one more. Are you impoverished of earthly goods? Do not grieve! Your imperishable treasure is in heaven. Are you sailing over dark and stormy waters? Do not fear! The rising flood just lifts your ark higher and closer to the mount of perfect safety and endless rest. Are you battling with disease, conscious that life is ebbing and eternity is nearing? Do not tremble! There is light and music in your lone and shaded chamber—the dawn and the harmonies of your heavenly home.

I am going home! Transporting thought! True, I leave an earthly one, all so sweet and attractive; but I exchange it for a heavenly one infinitely brighter, more sacred and precious. I am going to Jesus; to the Church Triumphant; to the apostles, prophets, and martyrs; to the dear ones who line the shore on the other side, prepared to welcome me there. Death, from which I have so often recoiled, is only the triumphal arch—oh, how bright the risen, exalted Christ has made it!—through which I pass into my Father's house.

A few more years shall roll,
a few more seasons come,
and we shall be with those that rest
asleep within the tomb:
then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that great day;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
and take my sins away.

A few more storms shall beat
on this wild rocky shore,
and we shall be where tempests cease,
and surges swell no more:
then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that calm day;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
and take my sins away.

A few more sabbaths here
shall cheer us on our way,
and we shall reach the endless rest,
th'eternal sabbath day:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that sweet day;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
and take my sins away.

'Tis but a little while,
and he shall come again
who died that we might live, who lives
that we with him may reign:
then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that glad day;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
and take my sins away.

(Horatius Bonar, 1844)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.