"I wish you a
happy New Year," will soon be repeated far and near, by parents and
children, brothers and sisters, acquaintances and friends. In a world like
ours, this New Year's greeting seems far more appropriate than the Merry Christmas
so lately echoed from lip to lip. On every hand are pale faces, brows furrowed
with pain and care, or forms bowed with age. Wherever we turn may be seen the
garb of mourning. The suffering, the care-worn, and the aged can no longer be
merry. In many a household there is a vacant chair; a beloved child, a husband
and father, whose presence gladdened the last Christmas and New Year's
festivity, is gone from the circle. A merry Christmas seems a mockery to that
bereaved family. {RH, January 3, 1882
par. 1}
But whatever the
cares and sorrows of life, whatever the mistakes and errors of the past, the
"Happy New Year," when uttered as an expression of love or respect,
falls pleasantly upon the ear. And yet, are not these kindly wishes often
forgotten with the utterance? How often we fail to carry their import into the
daily life, and thus to aid in their fulfillment. The New Year's greeting is
frequently uttered by insincere lips, from hearts that would not forego one
selfish gratification in order to make other's happy. Recipients of gifts and
favors every new year, many accept these as their due. Receiving daily the
bounties of Heaven, sunshine and shower, food and raiment, friends and
home,--all the unnoted yet priceless blessings of life,--they forget the claims
of the Giver; forget that God has left them a legacy in his poor; and that
Christ, the Majesty of Heaven, identifies himself with suffering humanity in
the person of his saints. {RH, January
3, 1882 par. 2}
Says our Saviour,
"It was I whom you neglected. While your wardrobe was supplied with costly
apparel, I had no comfortable clothing; while you feasted, I was hungry; while
you were absorbed in pleasure, I was sick, a stranger, and uncared for. Let
those who would have a happy new year, seek to honor God and make all around
them happy. Let them share the gifts of Providence
with those more needy, and bring to the Lord their offerings of gratitude,
their sin-offerings, and their free-will offerings. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 3}
Let us review our own course during the past
year, and compare our life and character with the Bible standard. Have we
withheld from our gracious Benefactor that which he claims from us in return
for all the blessings he has granted? Have we neglected to care for the poor,
and comfort the sorrowing? Here, then, is work for us. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 4}
Upon many, God
has bestowed his gifts with a lavish hand. Will they make corresponding
returns? Some of these persons, when in poverty, were faithful in the smallest
trust committed to them. They would sooner deny themselves of the comforts, or
even the necessaries of life, than to withhold their offerings from the Lord's
treasury. God has rewarded their faithfulness by prosperity. But now a change
comes over the recipients of his bounty. Their wants increase faster than their
income, and they no longer return to God the portion which is his due. Thus is
developed that same spirit of covetousness which proved the ruin of Judas. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 5}
Let us each bring
our souls to task. Let us see if we have brought all our offerings to God. I
would do this for myself as an individual. It may be that I have been remiss
during the past year. I know not when or where, but to make sure that I have
done my whole duty, I will at the first of the year bring an offering to God to
be appropriated as may seem best, to some one of the branches of his work. If
any of you, my brethren and sisters, are convicted that you have failed to
render to God the things that are his; if you have not kindly considered the
wants of the poor; or if you have withheld from any man his due, I entreat you
to repent before the Lord, and to restore fourfold. Strict honesty toward God
and men will alone meet the divine requirements. Remember that if you have
defrauded a neighbor in trade, or in any manner deprived him of his own, or if
you have robbed God in tithes and offerings, it is all registered in the books
of Heaven. {RH, January 3, 1882 par.
6}
Many are bemoaning
their backsliding, their want of peace and rest in Christ, when the past year's
record shows that they have separated themselves from God by their departure
from strict integrity. When they will faithfully examine their hearts, when
they will open their eyes to see the selfishness of their motives,--then their
prayer will be, "Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right
spirit within me." God requires us to have a pure heart and clean hands.
Let those who have committed wrong give proof of their repentance by seeking to
make full restitution, let them in their after-life give evidence of a genuine
reformation, and they will assuredly enjoy the peace of Heaven. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 7}
Let us enter upon
the new year with a clean record. Let faults be corrected. Let bitterness and
malice be uprooted. Let right triumph over wrong. Let envy and jealousy between
brethren be put away. Heartfelt, honest confession will heal grave
difficulties. Then, with the love of God in the soul, there may flow from
sincere lips the greeting, "I wish you a happy New Year." {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 8}
Many who were
with us at the beginning of 1881 are not here to welcome 1882. We ourselves may
not live to see another year. Shall we not seek to improve the little time
allotted us? Will not the church
of Christ turn from their
backslidings? Will they not cast aside their idols, repent of their love of the
world, overcome their selfish greed, and open the door of the heart to bid the
Saviour welcome? May the beginning of this year be a time that shall never be
forgotten,--a time when Christ shall come in among us, and say, "Peace be
unto you." {RH, January 3, 1882
par. 9}
Brethren and
sisters, I wish you, one and all, a happy New Year.
"We live in deeds, not years; in
thought, not breath;
In
feelings, not in figures on the dial.
We should
count time by heart-throbs when they beat
For man,
for duty. He most lives
Who thinks
most, feels noblest, acts the best."
