It can seem at times as if this world is a very happy place. Sit in a garden on a quiet summer’s evening and enjoy the tranquillity of the place; the birds gently singing, perhaps young children playing happily on the grass, a cool drink by our side, the light from the setting sun adds its own warmth and beauty to the scene: some feel that this is all they want. Yes, this world has its very pleasant moments and God has left traces of its original glory even though it is under his judgment on account of man’s sin, but do not be bewitched by these small things. Do not imagine that this world can be turned into a utopia and that we can somehow live without being affected by the curse which universally affects life on earth. Do not forget the deeper needs of the soul or imagine that a brief moment of peace and contentment is going to last for ever. These are God’s gifts to the good and the evil alike and are no proof of his eternal favour. You should realise that you cannot hide yourself in some brief experience of happiness as if you could stop time, as if you could stretch that moment into the rest of life and on into eternity. Earth’s pleasures are fleeting and soon pass away. It is no consolation to you that you can remember brief times of joy when you are plunged again into some new sorrow which shakes the very foundation of your existence.
The non-Christian man may have a comparatively happy life, may marry a considerate and kind woman, who cares for him and gives him a feeling of being wanted, being loved. But he knows in his heart of hearts that he is vulnerable to all sorts of sadness and misery. If he does not know Christ, he can take nothing with him out of this world and his happiness is very fragile. Who cannot see that there is a time of great darkness coming in the form of loss of health, old age with its breakdown of the faculties, and bereavement, so that many of the things that we feel make life worth living are taken from us. We build a home, bring up a family; the place may have many happy associations in our minds, yet a day will probably come when we have to walk out of the door for the last time, perhaps because children have moved on or because old age means we can no longer fend for ourselves. Yes, we take happy memories, but they are also sad memories for we can never bring back the past and always there is a sense of loss. Furthermore man’s conscience tells him that his sins deserve death and he must go to that grave from where he has never seen anyone return.