Again we reach the time when one year passes away and another begins. At a new year – at another major milestone in our lives – we do well to look back on the year we leave behind; we also do well to look ahead to the one that now begins.
Looking back. As they consider the year now past, whatever it brought of joy or sorrow, the unconverted have great reason to thank God, for He has spared them on mercy’s ground. He did not send them away to the lost eternity which their sins deserved. This is God’s long-suffering: His kindness in holding back punishment, giving them an opportunity to obtain the salvation they so desperately need. They are still in this life, where they may obtain mercy – through Jesus Christ, who died to bear the punishment which sinners deserve. And the awful nature of that punishment, leading Christ to cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mt 27:46), shows us the fearful nature of sin against a holy God.
As we look back, we should note our duty to thank God sincerely for all the blessings we have received in His providence: for clothing and shelter, food and drink – in many cases, far beyond what is necessary to keep body and soul together. We should be very conscious that God has been good to us and seek to thank Him accordingly. In His goodness, the food He has provided not only nourishes our bodies, but also has a pleasant taste. In spite of the Fall into sin, and its consequences, such as “thorns and thistles” growing where otherwise useful plants would flourish, God still, in His kindness, provides us with food that tastes nice – something that should make us even more ready to thank God for His goodness when we say grace after our meals. We should also give thanks for friendship and family, since it is possible for us to experience such relationships even in a world where sin tends to drive people apart.
But God’s children should thank Him especially for the blessings of salvation. They should thank Him for His eternal love, choosing them to everlasting life in spite of their unworthiness. They should also give thanks for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself by coming into the
world to do all that was necessary for the salvation of sinners. So Paul recognised Him as the Father’s gift to a guilty world, “His unspeakable gift”, a gift that is indescribable. The wonders of the Person and work of Christ are altogether beyond description, whether we consider Him in His state of humiliation on earth or in His present state of exaltation, continuing His work as Prophet, Priest and King. And believers ought to be thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit, who put life into their souls, planted the seeds of every grace in their hearts and has kept them spiritually alive till now.
And as we look back, let us ask ourselves how we have used the past year. Have we followed the Saviour’s direction to seek first, as altogether more important than anything else, God’s kingdom and His righteousness? (Mt 6:33). Commenting on this verse, David Dickson emphasises “that to be partaker of the kingdom of God’s grace here, and of His glory in heaven, is worthy of our chiefest affections, and most intent endeavours”. Again: “We cannot be sure to be subjects of God’s gracious kingdom here, nor of His glorious kingdom in heaven hereafter, except we also study to be sure of the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ, and of holiness and uprightness of life flowing therefrom”.
Clearly, careless sinners are not in any sense seeking Christ; yet as they look back, they may recall times when their hearts were impressed by God’s Word. Let them consider seriously Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s words of warning: “Christ gives last knocks. When your heart becomes hard and careless, then fear lest Christ may have given a last knock.”1 Yes, but let no one despair; seek Christ now, as He is set before you in the gospel, “without money and without price”. Seek Him; seek Him earnestly; seek Him as more important than anything else; seek Him without delay.
Looking ahead. There are many reasons why we should look forward; there are many plans we should be making for the future. But all these plans should be consistent with the Saviour’s directions in Matthew 6:33. We must look beyond what is seen and temporal, to what is unseen and eternal. We must bear in mind the solemn fact of death sometime in the future; yet we dare not think of death as far away. The Saviour’s words should impress us powerfully: “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Mt 24:44).
How appropriate if we can look into the future trusting in God and His goodness! The Psalmist sang to the praise of God: “Thou art good, and doest good”. And gratitude for God’s goodness led him to add the petition, “Teach me Thy statutes” (Ps 119:68). So, if we have any sense of God’s goodness to us in the past, and if we have faith to believe that God’s goodness is un-
1A A Bonar, Memoir and Remains of R M M’Cheyne, Banner of Truth reprint, 1966, p 137.
changing, we should pray in these terms also. To learn by heart the words of the Ten Commandments, for instance, should be relatively straightforward. But no doubt the Psalmist had in mind such teaching as would involve writing God’s law on his heart.
This petition corresponds to another: “Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments” (Ps 119:35). To go in the paths of God’s commandments implies a new heart; and the Psalmist, who already had a new heart, was asking for grace to receive the spirit of God’s law and to apply its principles to every set of circumstances in which he might find himself. And the fact that God is good – that He is willing to do good to His creatures – should encourage us to pray for His blessing in the year that lies ahead. Especially we should pray that God would make us willing to seek first a place in His kingdom, and to receive His righteousness.
At this time of year we would do well to imitate the desires of godly James Calder (1712-1775), minister of Croy, east of Inverness. On the first day of 1765, during a time of revival, he wrote in his diary: “May many, very many, souls of every rank and sex and age be gathered in this year to Christ in the gospel net! For, alas, there are many, very many, as yet in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. Lord, send prosperity, for Jesus’ sake.”
Calder closed the year “with the warmest sentiments of gratitude and praise to my God, and my father’s God, and my children’s God, for the many instances of His undeserved goodness vouchsafed me and my flock and family during this period. Blessed be His glorious name, this year has exceeded the last, happy as it was, in the number of converts. . . . O Lord, grant, for Jesus’ sake, that the new year which is now beginning may exceed this and all former years in the same happy respect!” And the following day he again expressed desires for God’s blessing, not only for “this poor corner of the Church”, but everywhere. “May [this year] prove a year of conversion and salvation to sinners, a year of confirmation and salvation to saints . . . to the glory of free grace and redeeming love!”2
Yet, godly man that he was, he could not write in this way without acknowledging his own sinful imperfections. He thus expressed himself before God: “Meanwhile I have the greatest reason to lie low in the dust on account of my numberless failings and shortcomings in duty . . . Father, forgive, for Jesus sake.”
This is not an age of revival, as Calder’s was. But, as 2015 begins, may God’s children everywhere plead humbly, with confession of sin, for many conversions throughout the year, and through years to come – not only in their own “poor corner”, but in all parts of the world! God is able to do so.
2Diary of James Calder, reprinted in The Banner of Truth magazine, issue 130, pp 30,37,38.