"I will give thee for a covenant of the people."Isaiah 49:8.ĮSUS Christ is Himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and as one of its gifts, He is the property of every believer. The motto for this year must be, "Continue in prayer." Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of His love. If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian. Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then, may the Lord's mercy show thee thy misery! A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Dost thou want nothing? Then, I fear thou dost not know thy poverty. So deep are our necessities, that until we are in heaven we must not cease to pray.
If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. On the mountain we see Elias in the dungeon Paul and Silas. Here we find a wrestling Jacobthere a Daniel who prayed three times a dayand a David who with all his heart called upon his God.
We scarcely open the Bible before we read, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord " and just as we are about to close the volume, the "Amen" of an earnest supplication meets our ear. T is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. Man did eat angels' food of old, and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year! We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him: they hymn His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too. "We who have believed do enter into rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance He gives us "glory begun below." In heaven they are secure, and so are we preserve in Christ Jesus there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year's text should not still be true. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be "for ever with the Lord."Ī part of the host will this year tarry on earth, to do service for their Lord. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land.
SRAEL'S weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. "They did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."Joshua 5:12.
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