Times-promoter., 1903-01-02

, other time, are beginnings made
hopes revived, and a new grip on lif
and its possibilities taken. 1t is
season of grave digging and gardel
!, making. With sigh of relief tn,
past is laid away and covered ove1
with the fresh soil of new purpose.
and desires, and in this productive
soil the tiny seed of hope is planted
: 1t soon pushes up it's tender blade o1
green, and if not blighted and killed
by the heat of ungoverned desire ant
passion, or dried up by the drought o1
careless neglect and forgetfulness, o1
9 drowned out by the fckleness and
: change of an unsteadfast heart then
:: it may attain vigorous growth and
bear the fruit OF glad success
and bright prosperity. Old Father
, Time, who came to us one year ago
young and fresh and bright, has
counted off the days for us one by
one. With the passing of each night
and the bursting of the sun into the
eastern sky, he has laid at our feet
the new day of possibilities. And
thus the year has sped around, and,
well or lily spent, it is nearly gone.
Old Father Time has but few days
left in his control to unroll before US,
but, as with feebler step and short
ened breath he nears the sum of his
days, he raises his trembling hand
and points us hopefully toward the
Promised Land OF the New Year.
VIII you enter that Promised Land
with Caleb and Paul and make it the
best year of your life?
The Promised Land.-The history
of the children of Israel is familiar
to all How the promise came to
Abraham that his seed were to pos
sess the land of Canaan; how they
suffered bondage in the land of
Egypt for 400 years; how God raised
up leader for them in Moses and
brought them by miraculous way
through the Red sea, down through |
the wilderness around Mount Sinai, |
and up to the border land of Canaan,
where we find Caleb pleading with |
the people to go up at once and pos
sess the land which God has prom
ised to give them, and which in His
strength they are we'll able to over
come. The Promised Land was a
land flowing with milk and honey. A
veritable garden spot where every Is
raelite was to dwell in safety and
contentment under his own vine and
fig tree. A Promised Land for Israel.
but is there Promised Land for
everyone who will go up and possess
it? Let us see.
The Promised Land was given by
promise of God to Israel; it was Sc
lected by God, and God led the way
up and into the land. This triple
association of God with the Promised
Land has it's close parallel in the re-
lations which God sustains or wishes
to sustain to every life. It is said !
that life is what we make it, and a
trenchant saying of the present day
is: Don't wait for your opportu-
nifty; make it." LongfelloW, in his
psalm of Life" says:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind US
FOOTPRINTS on the sands of time" s
These declarations are true when s
God is linked in the thought and {
when He has an opportunity to work |
out in the purpose and activity of t
nan, but they are only half truths il |
nan seeks by himself and in his own ,
strength and wisdom to make his ,
OVID opportunity, and to make his life .
| sublime success. There can be no =
ruth apart from Him Who is The {
Truth. There can be no true success, +
rue happiness, true achievement of +
my kind which does not include God i
is a factor. Y
The Promised Land was Divinely +
elected, and God by His wonderful
led the way into it. So V
t is with the Promised Land lying .
'efore you and me in the New Year. Z
t is Divinely appointed, and God will 9
cad y0n and me into it, if we :,
will but let Him. The ''high h
alling of God in Christ Jesus" :,
5 the land flowing with the i
mix and honey of Divine posi- :,
ilities which God calls every soul to :,
nter. There are fghtings by the =,
ray, there are Jordans to be crossed, :,
here are Jerichos to be overcome, p
here are enemies TO be driven out, &C,
ut God leads every step of the way. :,
md what is "the high calling of God <,
1 Christ Jesus?" Is it a calling
'hich takes a soul out of active touch I,
'ith the practical. throbbing life of -
he world and makes him a nonen- -
ty? Is it a calling which puts a sill @s' @
er-stringed harp in our hands, an :,
ngelic smile ON our faces and song -
| our mouths, -
"Oh. to be nothing. nothing -
Only to lie at His feet" bt
o! A tnousand times no! Strange, II