MAN’S GREAT END
LORD OF ALL BEING,
There is one thing that
deserves my greatest care,
that calls forth my ardent desires,
That is, that I may answer
the great end of which I am made
to glorify thee who hast given me being,
and to do all the good I can
for my fellow men;
Verily, life is not worth having
if it be not improved for this
noble purpose.
Yet Lord, how little is this
the thought of mankind!
Most men seem to live for themselves,
without much or any regard for thy glory,
or for the good of others;
They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue
the riches, honours, pleasure of this life,
and if they supposed
that wealth, greatness, merriment,
could make their immortal souls happy;
But alas, what false delusive dreams are these!
And how miserable ere long
will those be that sleep in them,
for all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.
O may I never fall
into the tempers and vanities,
the sensuality and folly of the present world!
It is a place of inexpressible sorrow,
a vast empty nothingness;
Time is a moment, a vapour,
and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,
fleeting blasts of wind,
from which nothing satisfactory can be derived;
Give me grace always
to keep in covenant with thee,
and to reject as delusion
a great name here of hereafter,
together with all sinful pleasures or profits.
Help me to know continually
that there can be no true happiness,
no fulfilling of thy purpose for me,
apart from a life lived in
and for the Son of thy love.
This is an excerpt from the book Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett.
If you would like to buy this book please click here.