Quotes on reaching the end of yourself...

“Meaninglessness, does not come from being weary of pain, meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.”

- G.K. Chesterton.

“It is difficult to resist the conclusion that twentieth century man has decided to abolish himself.  Tired of the struggle to be himself, he has created boredom out of his own affluence, impotence out of his own erotomania, and vulnerability out of his own strength.  He himself blows the trumpet that brings the walls of his own cities crashing down, until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, having drugged and polluted himself into stupefaction, he keels over, a weary, battered old brontosaurus, and becomes extinct.”

– Malcolm Muggeridge.

“the worst effect of sin, is not manifested in pain, and suffering, and bodily defacement, but in the dis-crowned faculties, the unworthy loves, the low ideals, the brutalized, and the enslaved spirit.”

- Edwin Hubble Chapin (1814 - 1880)

"A day's march..."

Here in the body pent,

Absent from Him I roam,

Yet nightly pitch my moving tent

A day's march nearer home.

- James Montgomery (1771-1854)

We're all facing a final destiny. This is just another undeniable "empirically verifiable fact"  And as Samuel Johnson has said... "No rational man can die without uneasy apprehension." . It would be a good idea to find out to the best of your ability, where you will end up on the other side. 

We all must face the fact, that some day our bodies will no longer be living, but will indeed die. My challenge to anyone reading this, is to ponder that. Ask yourself, what will happen to me when I die? Some people believe that we don't have souls. However I agree with our good friend, the late C.S. Lewis who said while in conversation with a non-believer. 
"I agree, you don't have a soul.... You ARE a soul, you HAVE a body."  

As the Apostle Paul wrote. "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord." 
When we look at the Cross of Christ, The Resurrection of Christ, we see that He, not only paved the away for us to be with him in Eternity, but we also see that by the Cross, all men have been "drawn unto" Him. And the end result is that through the work of the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord ...death is not the end. Your soul (and mine) will go on for eternity. That is a sobering thought, for "the rational man" at least. 

The simplicity and the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is this "...to Believe.." in the Lord Jesus. To take Him at His word. 

Like the Hymn states. 

1. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
   Just to trust His cleansing blood;
   And in simple faith to plunge me
   ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just from sin and self to cease;

Just from Jesus simply taking

Life and rest, and joy and peace.

1. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
   Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
   And I know that Thou art with me,
   Wilt be with me to the end.

Depravity of man...

It’s a timely quote to remember, from the late British Journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who was himself a late comer to Christ.. In response to the common, and modern idea that is generally accepted in our society that ‘man is getting better and better, and that we are intrinsically all good, deep within.’  He wrote of the duplicitous nature of the human mind, and heart. Saying…

“The depravity of man is at once, the most empirically verifiable fact, and at the same time the most intellectually resisted.”

The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?

-          Jeremiah 17:9

But we have Hope in Christ, Thanks be to God!

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

⁵ who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved byvarious trials, 

⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 

⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

-          1 Peter 1:3-9