End, better than the Beginning – Charles Spurgeon

“BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” Some pictures in nature will illustrate this. We compare the beginning and the end. The sower goes forth on a damp and drizzling morning with his handful of precious seed, which he is reluctant to spare; and as he scatters it, the rough wind blows into his face, and the frost bites his cheek; and, literally, it may be said, that he “sows in tears;” the beginning, therefore, is by no means pleasant. Then comes the harvest home, with the songs and dances of smiling damsels and joyous swains, when the produce of the fields is safely housed; that is the end thereof. I think that every one can see that the harvest is better than the seed-time. Or starts forth a man upon a long journey. He takes a staff in his hand. He prepares himself to climb yonder crags. The storm will come on, but he must pass through it. There will be brooks swollen with the rains, but he must pass through them all. Summoning courage to his aid, he surmounts every obstacle. He comes in all flushed with the healthy exercise. He has climbed yonder crag; he has passed through the brooks; he has braved the storm; and now he comes to the blazing fire to sit down and rest himself, for the journey is over. “Better,” says the traveler, “is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Toil came, but now toil is sweetened, for I look back upon it, and can take my rest.” Or, see the good ship as the dock gates are opened, and she is drawn out into the river. Flags are flying, and every one cheers those who are about to make a venturesome voyage to the Indies. See her, however, coming up the river, well loaded, to go into dock, and ask the captain, who remembers the rough weather as he passed the Cape, and the storm just as he came off the Peninsula, and he will tell you that he likes coming up the river much better than going down. Coming home with his ship well freighted, after a prosperous voyage, he says with thanks to God, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” One more picture. An army of soldiers goes forth to war. Can you see them with pleasure? I know you shout and crowd the streets as they march down your thoroughfares, and truly it is a thrilling sight to see the stalwart heroes as they go forth to fight their country’s battles; but when you think of the number of those brave men who may lie dead on the battle ground, and how few may ever return, I am sure, to say the least, it is not a pleasurable sight. But when those brave men who have escaped the storm and dash of battle return to their native land, and again pass through the streets, they feel, if the spectators do not, that better is the end of war than the beginning thereof. Someone once said, he thought there was never a good war, and never a bad peace; and I believe to a very great extent he was right. Peace is of itself an inestimable blessing, and war in itself, whether just or unjust, a most terrific scourge. So whether, then, you see the sower in the field, or the traveler starting on his journey, or the voyager launching upon the deep, or the warrior going to the fight, you are ready to think that, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”