There goes the steam engine, puffing along! What a noise it makes and how fast it runs! It is called the “Rapid,” and that is a very good name for it, for it glides over the railway lines at such a rate that you might almost fancy it was in a hurry to get to the end. Well, the passengers, at all events, are most of them in a hurry. An impatient, old tradesman, in a corner of one of the carriages, is grumbling because he thinks they will not reach the terminus until five minutes past the usual hour. Although in his younger days he was four or five times as long in traveling over the same ground! But people get so used to the present mode of conveyance that its rapidity makes no impression upon them.

And in the same way people become so accustomed to the speed with which time flies along, that they seldom think much about it. Yet how fast our days and years pass away! Our life is like a journey upon the railroad; it will soon be over. We have just completed another twelvemonth of our brief existence here, and have entered upon a new period of time.

“Another station on Time’s gliding railway
Life’s train hath passed;
And now Anticipation’s eager glances
Onward are cast.”

Yes, it is natural to look forward. What fresh scenes are we likely to see? What dangers shall we encounter? What adventures shall we meet with? Ah, we cannot tell. God only knows; but He is ever near us, and, if we trust in Him, He will take care of us, so we need not fear.

It is, however, most likely that we shall have some sorrow to bear in the coming year; we must not expect that all our journey will be bright and sunshiny. The railway has its dark tunnels. And the young Christian has his seasons of trial and temptation. But as the bright gleam of the lamp every now and then illumines the dreary tunnel, so does many a sweet promise console and animate his mind. And then, however painful and long-continued his afflictions may be, they will certainly not always lie through tunnels. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Besides, the journey will soon be ended; and then he will be forever beyond the reach of sorrow. With so bright a prospect as this in view, he feels that his affliction is not only light, but that it is but for a moment.