The contracting walls!

(J.R. Miller)

"It is appointed for man once to die — and after that comes judgment!" Hebrews 9:27

There was a mediaeval dungeon of singular construction. When the prisoner first entered it — it seemed very bright and pleasant. It had a cheerful appearance. But in three or four days, he saw that the walls, which were of iron, were slowly contracting. On oiled hinges and in silent grooves, the metal plates were ever drawing nearer and nearer to each other.

By and by the prisoner could hardly move. Then the place was too small for him to lie down in. The next day, there was only room for him to stand. Now he put his hands frantically against the iron walls to keep them from crushing him. But all was in vain. The walls silently and remorselessly closed upon him.
 
In the same way, your years are the walls of just such a prison. They are bright and beautiful to you. But each day the prison is contracting, its walls are narrowing around you. With every pulse-beat, the iron walls draw closer and closer around your soul.

The only refuge from this prison, is Christ. Without Christ, life means nothing but illusion and disappointment, ending in death and eternal damnation! Christ is the only door into liberty, into blessedness, into joy, into Heaven!

"For the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23

"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved!" John 10:9