Israel's long, weary wandering was finally over. The promised rest had come at last! No more packing up tents, no more fiery serpents, no more fierce Amalekites, no more howling wilderness. They had arrived in the land flowing with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of that good land.

Perhaps this year, beloved reader, this will be your story or mine. What a joyful prospect! And if faith is in active exercise, it will yield pure, unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest that remains for the people of God—what a cheering hope indeed! And to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss.

Unbelief shudders at the Jordan that still rolls between us and the goodly land. But let us rest assured—we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought and rejoice with exceeding great joy! This may be the very year we begin to be "forever with the Lord."

But some of God's host will tarry on earth this year, doing service for their Lord. And if that falls to our lot? There is no reason why this New Year's promise should not still be true: "We who have believed do enter into rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. He gives us "glory begun below."

In heaven they are secure—and so are we, preserved in Christ Jesus! There they triumph over their enemies—and we have victories too! Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord—and this is not denied to us! They rest in his love—and we have perfect peace in him! They hymn his praise—and it is our privilege to bless him too!

We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels' food of old—and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!