Eric and Agnes Hare. The End of The Road! (Part 2)

I want to change the picture, for I want to assure you that some people come to the end of the road conscious that they have served God with all their heart, and soul, and strength. They have given the Lord the best they have, and when they come into tight places and difficult circumstances, there is a smile of triumph on their countenances. When we live up to all the light we have, and serve God with all our heart, and soul, and strength, we can approach the end of the road in confidence and joy. When at last I come to the end of the way, I want my face to light up with confidence and joy, don’t you?

When I came to the end of the road, I saw the division between those at the right hand and those at the left. All the way from Rangoon we traveled with every kind of person imaginable, the rich and the poor, the great and the small, the bond and the free. I saw the rich with their servants, their folding beds, their folding chairs, and their folding tables, and they camped at the side of the road in luxury. I saw the poor in their poverty, sitting in the dust eating a handful of rice they had half-boiled, half-roasted in a joint of bamboo. I saw men with hundred-dollar uniforms walking by in their greatness and little men with 50-cent loin clothes around their waists walking along in their humility. I saw every kind of person imaginable, until we got to the end of the road, and then something happened.

It was as if a magic general had waved a magic wand and all the camouflage of life was taken away. The rich had to leave their automobiles and servants behind, and they had to walk out of the country on foot, with no more than 60 pounds (27KGs) of luggage. The poor also walked out on foot with a similar load of luggage, if they had that much. The great and the small walked out on foot but none was allowed more than 60 pounds of luggage. And when we all got down on our own feet, there was no longer any difference between the rich and the poor, or between the great and the small. Everybody slept on a bamboo floor or on the ground. There was not enough water to bathe in, and no one shaved. It didn’t matter what kind of bank account you used to have, or what kind of car you used to drive, or what kind of house you used to live in. Nothing mattered then but what you were.

But in every camp I saw two distinct groups of people. It was just as though someone had built a fence in every camp. It was as if an unseen general had stood at the entrance of each camp and said, “You to the right, and you to the left. You stay over here, and you go over there.” But they were not the rich and the poor; they were the good and the bad. They were not the great and the small; they were the kind and the unkind. They were not the bond and the free; they were the selfless and the selfish. They were those who sang praises to the name of Christ and those who cursed and blasphemed that holy name. I was there. I saw it.

When I was a boy I thought that Christ would cause the nations to march toward Him, and like a majestic drillmaster He would point, “You to the right,” and “You to the left.”

I have changed my ideas. I know now how the division is made. I saw no one dividing them, and heard no one say, “You to the right, and you to the left.” I saw that the good ones went over to the right because they were good, and that was where they belonged. They went where people were speaking kindly, because that was the way they had been speaking long, long before. Those who blasphemed went among the blasphemers, because they had been doing that all the way. The unkind and selfish went with the unkind and selfish, because they had always been selfish. Thus when we came to the end of the road, just as naturally as water and oil separate after they have been shaken together, the good went to one place in the camp, and the bad went to the other. That is the way the good and bad are going to be separated in that great day when Christ comes. If you and I want to be at the right hand of God then, we had better get to the right hand of God now, and we had better stay there today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and every day till Jesus comes. That is the only way we can be sure of being at His right hand.