The idea is to compare life to the daytime, and the comparison is one as
appropriate as it is simple.
The day is the time for intercourse; the time when, in the light of
heaven, we enjoy each other’s fellowship, and have all the lovely scenery
of God’s creation brought to the view: and so it is with life. It is the
short and sacred season in which we are placed together in the flesh,
surrounded by those we love, linked together by countless ties, refreshed
and cheered by happy intercourse. In the daytime of life there ought to
be the enjoyment of each other’s love, and the mutual fellowship with
each other’s interests. And where, I may safely inquire, could be found
a welcome more hearty, or a greeting more affectionate, than in
Northrepps Cottage? How many are there in this church that have
experienced the warm cordiality of that hearty welcome that was to be
found there on every occasion! She might have been busy or at leisure,
at ease or in severe suffering; but it made no difference in the real
genuine pleasure with which she received you under her roof.
But the prominent point of the text is, that the day is the time for
work; the brief period set apart for labour; the chosen opportunity, the
short time in which it is our sacred privilege to be doing something for
God and man—something to bring man nearer to God, and something to bring
down God’s blessing in larger abundance upon man. Thus our various
positions in life correspond with the various periods of the day. There
is the little child, with its mind just opening and intelligence just
dawning, like the sun rising in the east. There is the young man,
entering life full of energy, hope, and power, with all his work before
him, corresponding to the morning period, when the risen sun is summoning
mankind to labour. There is the middle-aged man, with the advantage of
half a life’s experience, and scarcely yet feeling the symptoms of decay,
like the sun at its height in the fulness of his meridian splendour. And
there is the aged Christian, with the grey hairs coming on upon his head,
with his strength diminishing, but wisdom deepening and hope brightening,
with the greater part of life already past, and an earnest desire that
the short remainder should be well occupied for God,—corresponding to the
gradual closing in of evening. And then, at last, there is the bright
conclusion, when the soul is lighted up at the immediate prospect of his
Lord’s presence; when rest is taking the place of labour, and triumph
that of conflict; so that there is all the beauty of a glorious Christian
sunset.
“And when he comes nearer to finish his race,
Like a fine setting sun he looks richer in grace,
And gives a new hope at the end of his days
Of rising in brighter array.”