Hebrews 6

Go On

Let us go on. Hebrews 6:1 (AV).

I wonder if any of you know the coat of arms of the old Transvaal Republic? It is the figure of a wagon and it now forms part of the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa.

And why did the Transvaal Republic choose a wagon as their emblem? Well, it reminded them of the old days when the first colonists trekked from the Cape seeking a new country where they could settle. And everywhere they went the wagons went with them. They were the symbol of the restless life they led.

Now, life is very much like a journey. We must go on. We can't stand still. There are many ways in which we have to go on and I want to speak about two or three of them.

1. First, we have to go on getting bigger and older. (Of course the grown-ups don't get bigger, but they get older much faster than some of them like!) You are a good bit bigger than you were this day last year. Not long ago perhaps you tried on the boots you wore last winter and they pinched terribly, or you wore pants from a year ago and they were too short.

And this day next year you will be bigger still. You just can't help growing. You have to go on.

I knew a little girl once who was about five years old. One day she was playing in a big cupboard when she came upon her old cradle. Of course she didn't remember ever having slept in it, but she tried to get into it and when she found she couldn't, she sat down and cried. Don't you think she was a very funny little girl, and a very silly one too? She was ever so much bigger and stronger than when she slept in that cradle and she was able to do far more than she could then, and yet she sat down and cried because she wasn't little enough. Now it is silly to sit down and cry for things that are past. We have just got to make the very best of the age we are at and the things we have. And then we shall be ready to go on.

1. And, second, we have to go on getting wiser. You know much more than you did a year ago. You can spell bigger words and do more difficult sums. And this time next year you will know still more. Even if you didn't go to school you would know more, because we can't be in the world without learning something. The main thing is that we grow wise in the right way. Because there is a kind of wisdom that is not good. Try to learn the things that will make you useful men and women, things that will make you gladder, and other people happier.

2. But there is another way in which we must go on.

Every day we go on getting a little bit better or a little bit worse. We can't stand still here either, only, you see, there are two directions in which we can move either backward or forward. Which way are you going to choose?

Once a little girl was saying her prayers, and this is what she said, “Lord Jesus, make me gooder and gooder till there is no bad left.” Would you like to go on getting gooder and gooder? There is just one way to do it. You must put your hand in Jesus' hand and He will help you all the way.