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Show rssssssssn iwnwoiiMMM ' V B J III!' T ' 4 tQ p Old Year and the New jHfcmon forHew Yew's Era H by REV. STEPHEN PAULSON EMCTZZ-t - ' ' HetJ we In Thy hand. Psalm 11:15. D ifid solemn are tho last hours Bt $0 flying joar. Only a few Hcenths ago a New Year was H Mto as, fresh and puro from H jntt storehouse of time. It Bptnt Its life upon the earth, and Bootprtiitf will novcr be effaced. fiptrung year has brought to us . B soaberlcss blessings ; It has Brainy noMo deeds done, and It Ufa progress In many depart-ft depart-ft of life. ft pissing of another year must Bulie to every thoughtful person ftVrollt flight of time. Looking ftwird over tho past years of our Bit; seem to shrink to .the size ftVata strung around n chll'd's neck. ftW in Image of roan's career, tho ftt tees his days swifter than a ftwcri shuttle; his years swifter ffsflgu mow, curving as It rises to zHML Vhst la man's llfo? tie asljs. ftw t cloud dissolving In the sun-ftm sun-ftm It Is a sumrnqr b,rook swollen ftjpUtn rains, but soon running out leaving tho stones bnro again. ft i tale that Is soon told. ftw-we last days ot Uie old year nrge ftV husband well, 'the tlmo. Hint Is Jf ftj Jhren us. 'To a' "shrub n year only a leaf;' to the. vine, a clus-I clus-I ftj to the tree; e new ting of wood. JJ ftjto a man a .year means a large on of his life which has leen or wasted. YotfUi often tinthlnk-I tinthlnk-I throws all responsibilities on t)ie H Hp to come. To him everything I posslblo Iti the, future. .Then h J to have tltrio for education. I ftfa ho will practice economy and ft, ,et the present bo prodlnl na ay. Tho morrow will sulllce for forming of hnblts and tho building hnrnctcr. 8o dazzled by tho fit- i B the youth allows tho years to through his hands, and tho result man who Is nn Intellectual Infant a moral fecbllng. As you pause 7 and think over tho past, you V realize that tho morrow holds harvests which the laborers called erdnys did not sow and cultivate. ftwro was nn ancient custom of put-f put-f nn hourglass Into tho coffln of dead to signify that their time HI run out a useless notification to " Better put tho hourglass Into hand of every living man to show how swiftly tho sands of life do f But, after nil, tlmo Is of value V ns we mnko the best .use of It. B 'i! '!? deMi. not ysars; In thought, f ?' breath; H .h"W no, ln "Bure.'on a dial. H inouia count tlmo by heart-throbs. "1 moit lives mo thinks rfpst, feels the noblest, acts V the best. Tho old year iriay hold our many "res, many disappointments, many W" regrets. Tho New Year holds to ns hope and promise, for my c'are In Thy hand, O Lord. It ha corafrt us when we think of 0 brevity of our years, to" realize contrast tho length of God's years. K novo but a short tlmo to work, It Is well to remember that In r that wo may bo dllllgent Dut a has a whole eternity In which jvork, and It Is well to remember ?' also, go that we may cease from "fulnjs nqil Impatlenco nt tho slow PsreBa of His kingdom among us. '! Chjlst has not censed from Ills PnipUon of the world, nor has God B?n defeated In His plans for hu-',,p hu-',,p for the times of men and "r" In Uls band. l For most of us the memory of the past Is it chamber of discontent. Let therefore tho old year bury from sight Its story of sin and sorrow anO failure Let thero be sincere repentance repent-ance for tho follies of tho past, and then let a now man step forth to meet with hope and determination tho glud New Year which God desires shall be n blessed year for every child of earth. When God forgives. Ho forgives for-gives utterly. Ho casts man's sins "Into tho deaths of tho sen." Why then should memory thrust Its hooked poto Into tho sen to dredge the bottom bot-tom and bring up by the locks some polo memory which God has plunged Into tho ocean of forgctfulness? Man's life Is not In the past, but In tho days to come, for our times are In His hind. And how many of us nrb waiting for the opportunities of the coming year? With how mnny of us Is It tho unuttercd hopo tlint tomorrow may bo free from the sins nnd tho mistakes mis-takes of yesterday? I pray God that for you It may bo so. Your times nro In His bnnd, and let your Father phnpe ihp new year for you; let Him rule It, and strive with the help ot the Spirit to walk tho way of nis commandments. "Forgetting tho things that aro behind, let us press on for the prize of tho high calling In Christ Jesus." The passing yenr also must remind us that thero will como n Inst year for each one of us. I'erhaps this coming yenr Is your lust. Are you therefore ready to see the curtnln rlso upon eternlty7 nro you now ready to hear the midnight cry, nnd to enter Into the marriage supper of the King's Son? Our times aro In God's hand, und no man knoweth what day or hour he nlny ho called from his labor. Though we live to bo counted among the oldest Inhabitants we must depart nt Inst. Others, hnvp gone beforo us nnd are going every dny, and yet wo seem so eager to forget our own mortality. mor-tality. Nay, let us rather look forward for-ward with anticipation, believing thnt God will then give us n New Year which shall bo without sin Mid tears nnd sorrow and pain, where lovo shall rule, nnd where happiness shall be complete In tho fullest service to our Gpd. Tho New Yenr bells will soon he ringing. Do not fall to mnko somo personnl preparations for Its coming. Mnko resolutions for the future ou the basis of your experience of tho past. Every ' heart knows Its own needs. nndy'lts own weaknesses. Ho not discouraged by past failures, but pray to God earnestly to help lo fu-turo fu-turo successes. Take this Now Year as a holy gift from a gracious Father and begin to llvo It carefully and prnycrfslly. Do not strive to carry tho burdens of future months, but live ench day as If It were tho last and tho best In splto of all tho Ills which we see In the world today, let us believe be-lieve thnt the New Year will bo a blessed year to all mankind, and lot each ono of us do our uttermost to make It so. May God look upon us all In mercy, nnd may Ho let this New Year XUng sut old shapes ot foul disease, nine out the narrowing lust of Bold! Ring out the thousand wars of old. Wns In the thousand years of peacs. |