Happy New Year!

A traveler was walking along the road. He had a scythe upon his shoulder and an hourglass in his hand. He walked with measured, exact footsteps. His eyes looked straight in front, and they never moved either to the right or left, but gazed on what was beyond. I said to him,

"What is your name?"

"My name is Time."

"Where are you going?"

"I am going to eternity."

"What is the number of your years?"

He showed me an open book, and on the page just turned over was written the date of the year just begun.

Where he went I followed, but even as I went I felt I could not tell how long I should follow. I saw one person after another stop in the road, and lie down to rise no more. They were left behind, for Time paused not; his course was unstopped.

Yes, my reader, you are walking with Time on the road of life in a new year begun. But you may not go far; you may pass the buds of Spring, but never see the flowers of Summer. Or, you may watch the leaves fall from the Autumn trees, and lie beneath them in the Winter. But whether your days on earth are to be few or many, are you ready for eternity?

You may have begun this year with gray hair and other signs of old age, or you may be facing the future with youthful buoyancy. But whether you are old or young, God would have you number your days, and apply your heart to wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

To begin the year with God is more important than anything else in this world. The Bible says: "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6,7).

The dawning of a new year serves to remind us that we are all marching through time, heading for eternity. Awaiting each traveler is either a glad and glorious heaven in the presence of God, or a sad and sorrowful hell, banished from God. The eternal Son of God entered into time as the man Christ Jesus to make a way for sinful man to approach God and enter into life eternal. His death, burial and resurrection have fully accomplished this objective so that Jesus now proclaims, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).

To personally "seek the Lord" is to realize that Christ died for your sins, and to trust His shed blood as the full and powerful payment needed to wash your sins away. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). On the basis of Christ's atoning sacrifice, God abundantly pardons the repentant sinner and makes him a child of God forever. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). See also Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:1,2.

But you must seek Him now, "while He may be found," while there is still time, before you pass into eternity. In view of the uncertainty of life, how important it is to "Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12), through faith in Christ as your personal Saviour! This alone will enable you to experience a truly "Happy New Year"—and look forward to a glorious eternity with absolute certainty.

—J.F.P.

http://www.mwtb.org