I particularly enjoyed the reading from today’s (December 31) My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. This writing sets an excellent and wonderful tone for the new year.
“Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.
“God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.
“As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
“Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.”
I wish each of us such a future! Blessings, Eric
