(Octavius Winslow, “Morning Thoughts”)
“You have not traveled this way before!” Joshua 3:4
How solemn is the reflection that each traveler to Zion is commencing a new and untrodden path!
Because new events in his history will transpire;
scenes in the panorama of life will unfold;
phases of character will develop;
new temptations will assail;
and duties will devolve;
new trials will be experienced;
and sorrows will be felt;
new friendships will be formed
and mercies will be bestowed.
How truly may it be said of the pilgrim journeying through the wilderness to his eternal home, as he stands upon the threshold of this untried period of his existence, pondering the unknown and uncertain future: “You have not traveled this way before!“
Therefore Reader! If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you will enter upon a new stage of your journey by a renewed surrender of yourself to the Lord. You will make the cross the starting point of a fresh setting out in the Heavenly race.
Oh, to begin the year with a broken heart for sin,
beneath the cross of Immanuel–looking through that cross to the heart of a loving, forgiving Father!
Therefore do not be anxious about the future–all that future God has provided for:
“All my times are in Your hands.”
“Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
“Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you.”
Let it be a year of more spiritual advance: “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.”
Therefore go forward in the path of duty;
in the path of suffering;
and in the path of conflict;
forward in the path of labor; and
in the path to eternal rest and glory!
Soon will that rest be reached, and that glory appear! Therefore this new year may be the jubilee year of your soul–the year of your release. Oh spirit-stirring, ecstatic thought–this year I may be in Heaven!
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For more go to: https://abbeyjahath.com/devotionals