Another Year Begins

Often in the past we have said, and we now say it once again, "What will this year bring?" As we grow older the years seem to pass with increasing speed, and it might well be with dismay and even alarm that we view the rapid approach of old age. How necessary and how precious then becomes our hope for the future and our glorious anticipation of our coming King and his universal kingdom. Think what we should be without the vision of this glorious prospect, perhaps wistfully thinking of the past that has gone for ever, sadly recalling the faces of those we expect to see no more having no hope and without God in the world.

"We are saved by hope," wrote Paul to the Romans. (8:24) Hope for the future is the very essence of the Christian’s life, and we must of necessity look forward and onward, lest like Lot’s wife we fall by the way. (Gen.19:26; Luke 17:31,32) The things of the past have no value, they are gone for ever: we cannot recall nor alter them now. We must face the present in the light of the future with renewed faith, believing that God can and will compensate in the days to come for anything that requires adjustment from the days of the past; that as with Job, the Lord will bless our latter end more than our beginning. Let us follow on in faith to know the Lord, disregarding the cost, and we shall receive an hundredfold for our efforts, and shall inherit everlasting life. May we, like Paul, forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil.3:13,14)

We often hear it said that we should not wish our lives away, yet how many people there are who are doing just that. They are living for some will‑o’‑the‑wisp of the future that most likely will never mature, or at the best will not bring the satisfaction that they expect from it. But our hopes are sure, for they are established in the counsels of the everlasting God.

The prisoner waits eagerly for the day of his release, counting the days as they pass, but he will have future problems to face when he does at last obtain his freedom. The patient in hospital looks forward in anticipation to the time when they can return again to their home and loved ones, but they have no guarantee that their health will be fully restored or that it will not fail again. We also wait for the day of our emancipation, our restoration to health and freedom and our final attainment to everlasting life, knowing that, no problems of that future state shall trouble us when we have entered into the glorious presence of our beloved Lord to be with him for ever. The calendar may mark the beginning of another year, but to us it only registers nearer to the glorious fulfilment of all our hopes in the revelation of our Lord from heaven. Let us awake, lift up our heads, and arise from our apathy, as our salvation draws nearer and nearer, with the sudden and unexpected coming of the Lord. Not much longer shall we cry "How long, O Lord," for that day hastes greatly, and again ye say "Who knows what this year will bring?"

Watch and pray always.

The Forest Gate Bible Monthly