September 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me ... because I am going to the Father" (John 16:17).

Devotional

These were the words of our Savior in the Upper Room. But thanks to the grace of union with Christ, the sacred friendships we form in our present state enter deeply into our future happiness. We feel that a dear friend—and now we speak only of the love inspired by a mutual hope in Christ—is a part of our own existence, an essential element of our intellectual and moral being. We identify such a friend with our immortality. Surely the affection inspired and the fellowship enjoyed here, form only the seed of the friendship that awaits us on high in its fullness and perfection.

The very character of earth's sacred friendships points us to a fuller development. Is the communion, the reciprocation of feeling springing from a warm confidential and exclusive friendship, at all equal to the depth and intensity of the affection that inspires it? Alas! not so. How little and how imperfect is the communion of kindred hearts here! Places, oceans, and circumstances separate. Only now and then do we taste the delights of a full and pure communion. And then, how often death steps in and casts its shadow and ruin over the heart's fondest treasure! The thread is broken, and our dear friend is gone! "A little while, and you shall not see me," gently whispers each holy, precious friendship of the heart. It is only "a little while" that we enjoy the Christian friends God gives us. And then, disappearing within the veil of eternity, we see them no more.

But are they gone forever? Oh no! We hear another voice—it is as a voice from heaven speaking—"And again a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father." Yes! it is but a "little while," and we shall see them again; because they are safe in the house of their Father. They are resting in the bosom of their Father.

And what is heaven? It is not a place of solitude and loneliness. There is society there—there is companionship there. And the life of the blessed will be a life of the closest personal communion. It will be a life of the highest social enjoyment. And who in the Father's house will be more likely to participate with us and in that way heighten the joys of heaven? Surely those who in this lower world were endeared more closely to us than all others by affection, providence, communion, and time.

And when we have passed through the portal of death, and find ourselves in glory, who, amid the bright throng of redeemed spirits, will be among the first objects of our eager search? Will it not be those who we knew and loved better than others on earth? Will it not be those whose associations were so intertwined with our own former, earthly life that not to renew the same peculiar friendship—freed from all the imperfections of sin—and not to enjoy again the same hallowed communion, would be like the destruction of our consciousness and memory? Yes! a little while, and we shall see them again!

Oh blessed reunion of the holy dead! Beloved, in a little while we shall see them all again, because they are with the Father. Let us comfort one another with these words.

"When we asunder part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.

This glorious hope revives
our courage by the way,
while each in expectation lives,
and longs to see the Day.

From sorrow, toil and pain—
and sin!—we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity."

(John Fawcett, 1782)

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 2011.