Scripture: Isaiah 43:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Philippians 3:12-14

The old year is dying, the new year is commencing, and whether the past has been wasted, or redeemed and used for God; whether the work of the past has been done or left undone, there is still a work for all of us to accomplish. Each day and each year brings its own set of duties, and our spirit needs to be awakened and stirred to adequately perform those tasks. The days do retreat and go away, and oftentimes we feel that there is something solemn about this passing from one year to another.

Some of you might be anxious about your spiritual condition. Take the past year as a whole, and perhaps you may be able to hope that some spiritual progress has been made. But it hasn’t all been progress forward. The picture may have its dark side. You’ve had your temptations, you’ve had your troubles and annoyances; and you’ve been forced to see how weak your strength is, how poor your best resolutions, how much you have fallen short of what you had intended a year ago. The day vanishes away. But if the past has not turned out the way you wished, or envisioned it, must you therefore give up in despair and discouragement? I tell you emphatically, no, you may be thankful for any advancement at all. You could have made no progress whatever but for the grace of God. Believe that He has been with you this whole time and He will continue to enable you to live more and more in the abundant life He has promised, all to the Father’s glory.

Again, the close of the year may suggest its thoughts to those who are fellow-laborers in the schools, or in the hospitals, care-centers, and hospices among the sick and destitute, or those trying to do the Lord’s work whatever it may be in their local neighborhoods. You might be looking back over the year that is gone, and you may feel there are abundant reasons for regret. Possibly, some opportunities for good have been lost which never will come back again. Some one was ill, and you knew of the illness, but you delayed your visit, or you didn’t take the time to fervently pray. Or again, you might have taken a bolder and firmer course, had your zeal for God been stronger. Maybe, you were witness to some evil done, and you didn’t protest against it. You might have heard hate-filled words, but you didn’t try to check them. There might have been a time or two where you might have spoken for God, and you timidly held your peace. Yet all hasn’t been failure. As painful as we may feel about our doubts and weakness of faith, we might still be able to see and thankfully acknowledge the evident signs of God’s presence with His people around us.

With the circumstances developing all over the world as well as in our own back yard, there is a future which we can only slightly influence, and the less we dwell on what is out of our hands, the better for us spiritually. God is still in control; He still sits on His throne. But there is also a future in which we can see change and be molded into the image of Christ, the future of our own characters, the only future which is really ours at all, as surrendered to Christ Jesus. In that area of development, it is eminently true that “Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant” (Isaiah 56:12).

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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