To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. — Luke 23:43.
While living in New Brunswick, in 1873, God took to Himself Dr. D. M. Stearn’s little daughter. He was disconsolate and used to go daily to the cemetery to mourn. In his grief he would thrust his walking stick through the sandy soil till it touched the little casket, as if he might find comfort in such contact. Indeed, his grief was so oppressive that he feared he would have to give up his work. But God graciously sent him relief. One day as he stood in the cemetery be began to say, “With Christ in paradise.” He kept repeating these words as he walked home and their real blessedness dawned upon him. “Why,” he said to himself, “what more could I ask for my loved one than this ?” In the comfort of this thought he was able to resume his work with a joyful, though chastened, heart. What more, indeed, could we ask for our loved ones, or ourselves, than this, “With Christ in paradise”?
Our loved ones before, Lord,
their troubles are o’er, Lord,
I’ll meet them once more
at Thy coming again.
The blood was the sign, Lord,
that marked them as Thine, Lord,
And brightly they’ll shine
at Thy coming again.