As we approach the end of another year, I often think about a small piece written by C.H. Spurgeon in his devotional ‘Morning and Evening.’ I will quote it in its entirety so that it may hopefully be fully effectual.
"The harvest is past, the summer ijs ended, and we are not saved."
Jeremiah 8:20
Not saved! Dear reader, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment to come, bidden to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved! You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and yet you neglect it, and therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall judge the quick and dead. The Holy Spirit has given more or less of a blessing upon the word which has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone--your summer and your harvest have past--and yet you are not saved. Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year will soon be here: youth has gone, manhood is going, and yet you are not saved. Let me ask you--will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most propitious seasons have left you unsaved; will other occasions alter your condition? Means have failed with you--the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection--what more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have alike failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not more than likely that you will abide as you are till death forever bars the door of hope? Do you recoil from the supposition? Yet it is a most reasonable one: he who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy to his end. The convenient time never has come, why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it never will arrive, and that Felix like, you will find no convenient season till you are in hell. O bethink you of what that hell is, and of the dread probability that you will soon be cast into it!
Reader, suppose you should die unsaved, your doom no words can picture. Write out your dread estate in tears and blood, talk of it with groans and gnashing of teeth: you will be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. A brother's voice would fain startle you into earnestness. O be wise, be wise in time, and ere another year begins, believe in Jesus, who is able to save to the uttermost. Consecrate these last hours to lonely thought, and if deep repentance be bred in you, it will be well; and if it lead to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of all. O see to it that this year pass not away, and you an unforgiven spirit. Let not the new year's midnight peals sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, now, NOW believe, and live.
Dear reader, those who attend a Christian church but still are not saved, I write this out of love for you and your never-dying souls! Far too many I have seen wither away in their final years with no faith, no hope, and no assurance. Those who sat under Godly preaching for 50, 60, and 70 years have nothing to show for it. Those who have access to the entire Bible, the Three Forms of Unity, and so many other good, sound biblical books and yet have no faith in Christ! Those who are still “waiting for God” and will never find Him. Those who die without faith in Christ and yet having heard of Him their entire lives have an even more terrifying end coming… to finally meet that God that they were “waiting” for and to be told, “Depart from Me, you worker of iniquity.”
Dear reader, how terrible that will be for you if you are not covered with the blood of Christ! I implore you to believe in Christ now! Repent of your sins now! You may die this very night! You are never too old to be saved, but often, the older you get, the more hardened your heart will become. That is why you must seek Him now!
Please heed the words of our faithful Savior!
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11: 28 - 30
May I also suggest you go back and read the entirety of Matthew 11 and notice Jesus’ warning to the cities that rejected His gospel… they were worse than Sodom because of it… please don’t let that be you!
Seek Christ and Believe!