Putnam County herald. (Cookeville, Tenn.) 1903-1922, 1916-01-06
A New Years Sermonic Meditation
REV. FRED B. COX

things which are before, / press to
ward the mark for the prize of tn
high calling Of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul could not have meant that h'
literally forgot the past, but that b,
did not allow the things Of the past u
hinder him in his great work. He hat
,, a vision of the futre- great far
reaching vision of the goal or work o.
his life that was in Christ Jesus. Pau
had a prospective view Of the grea
race-course of life.
Who is it that is moving the worlC
today for God and Righteousness? Il
is the men who have visions of God
who see things clearly and adjust
themselves to their calling. Though al
first they may appear to be rash, time
proves that they acted wisely and that
their call was truly Of God. Moses got
his vision in the burning bush, and
went back to Egypt to lead Israel Out
Of bondage. Isaiah got his in the Tem-
pie when he saw the glory of God and
was touched with live coal from of
the altar, and he became the evange-
list Of the Old Testament. Saul of
Tarsus got his vision on the road to
Damascus. There he saw Jesus, whom
he was prosecuting, and he went forth
proclaiming him the true Christ and
finally gave his life for his Master
Martin Luther found his vision when
climbing up the tabled Pilates Stairs
in Rome, and that inspiration sent
him forth to batter down the closed
door to the Word of God and to shake
the iniquitous Roman church to its
very foundation. John Wesley got his
vision amid the decaying embers Of
ritualism and high churchism in Eng
land and went forth proclaiming, Sal
walton for all men," salvation from
all sin," salvation that must be told,"
and that the world is my Parish"
Napoleon was the most efficient man
Of his time, not because gifted above
his fellows, either physically or men
tally, but because Universal Empire"
was his goal or vision.
Demosthenes was the prince Of ora
tors, not because he had splendid
voice, but because oratory was his
mark or vision. He was not looking
back to his bOyhoOd days when he
stood on the seashore with a pebble
under his tongue to conquer his stam-
mering speech, but looked forward to
days of far-famed mastery and great
ness in oratory.
David Livingstone having gained a
foothold in Darkest Africa, wrote to
the London Missionary Society what
he had done, and that he was willing
ii go anywhere-provided it be FOR
WARD.
Columbus, when he was homeward
bound after that wonderful voyage
when he discovered the new world,
was overtaken by a terrible storm. He
suffered indiscribable agony, not be-
cause he feared to lose his life or the
lives of his crew, but he was afraid
that his magnificent discovery of
new world would all so down ire
coverably into the abyss, and that, too,
not far from land He therefore hur-
riedly committed to the deep entries of
his discovery in bottles, in the hope
that some day they might reach land.
He had made splendid record, and he
didn't want 1t to be lost
Do we want to preserve our record
Of the past year? The following little
poem beautifully sets forth the truth
along this lint:
Il came to my teacher with a quiver-
ing lip,
The task undOne.
Dear teacher, want q new leaf,' said
I have soiled this one.'
In the place of the leaf all stained and
blotted
He gave me new one, clean, unspotted
And into, my face he smiled:
DO better now, my child
went to the throne with a quivering
heart,
The old year DONE
Dear Father, hast thou A new leaf fer
me2
! have spoiled this one
He took the old leaf, stained and bloit-
ed
And gave me new one clean, ,mspot-
ted,
And into my sad heart smiled:
Do better now, my child"
The following lines are from he pen
If DR.. Ivey, Editor Of the Nashville
Christian Advocate:
whatever may have been our mis-
'akes, ocr follies. or our sins among
he years that are dead, the spirit of
,very one has an opportunity OF start
ng the new year with a new leaf, un-
stained and unspotted. There need be
40 sad memories Of failure. II God Is
willing to forget the dark, ugly things
behind us. surely we can AFFORD to do
% and to realize that now we have the
;hance to build UP life which viii
cave no ugly stains and aches. Goa is
more than willing to present to the
humble. contrite, determined soul q
lew opportunity, and asks that II may
70 utilized In the establishment Of 4
'ecord Of high thoughts, noble feelings
ind unselfish service"
A certain writer records for us 4
iream he had. In his dream he saw q
ong procession Of men and women
passing by his window, and upon look |
ng more closely he was startled to
ind that those men and women were
he companions Of his childhood. They
all to be respectable, and 70
lave done very well In life. He him
'elf was old, inflrm, diseased, and his
whole life lad been wasted, until now
le was complete wreck. In an ar
my Of despair he cried out: 20 God,