Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British Baptist preacher. He started preaching at age 16 and quickly became famous. He is still known as the “Prince of Preachers” and frequently had more than 10,000 people present to hear him preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. His sermons were printed in newspapers, translated into many languages, and published in many books.

January 1

They ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year. (Joshua 5:12)

Israel's weary wanderings were over, and the promised rest was attained. There would be no more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses. They came to the land that flowed with milk and honey, and they ate some of the produce of the land (Joshua 5:11). Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be your case or mine. The prospect is joyful, and if faith is active, it will yield absolute delight. To be with Jesus in the rest that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9) is an encouraging hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double delight.

Unbelief shudders at the Jordan River that still flows between us and the good land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more affliction than death at its worst can cause us. Let us dispel every fearful thought and rejoice with exceedingly great joy in the prospect that this year we will begin to be forever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

A part of the multitude of saints will remain this year on earth to do service for their Lord. If we are in this group, there is no reason why the New Year's text should not still be true. We who have believed enter that rest (Hebrews 4:3). The Holy Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance. He gives us "glory begun below."[1] In heaven they are secure, and on earth we are 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 here on earth. There they rest in His love, and here we have perfect peace in Him. They sing His praise in heaven, and it is our privilege to do the same here. We will gather celestial fruits on earthly ground this year, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man ate angels' food long ago, and why can we not do so now?

O for grace to feed on Jesus and to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

January 2

Devote yourselves to prayer. (Colossians 4:2)

It is interesting to note how large a portion of Holy Scripture is taken up with the subject of prayer in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26). Just as we are about to close the volume, the amen of an earnest supplication meets our ear (Revelation 22:21). Instances are plentiful. We find a wrestling Jacob, a Daniel who prayed three times a day, and a David who called upon his God with all his heart. We see Elijah on the mountain, and Paul and Silas in the dungeon. We have multitudes of commands and myriads of promises.

This teaches us the sacred importance and necessity of prayer. We can be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. So deep are our necessities that we must not cease to pray until our earthly life is over. Do you need nothing? Then I am afraid you do not know your poverty. Do you have no mercy to ask from God? Then may the Lord's mercy show you your misery!

A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the chatter of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, and the whispering of the dying saint falling asleep in Christ. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, and the honor of a Christian. If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father's face and live in your Father's love.

Pray that this year you will be holy, humble, zealous, and patient. Pray that you will have closer communion with Christ and enter more often into the banquet hall of His love (Song of Solomon 2:4). Pray that you will be an example and a blessing to others, and that you will live more to the glory of your Master.

The motto for this year must be: Devote yourselves to prayer.

January 3

I will keep you and give You for a covenant of the people. (Isaiah 49:8)

Jesus Christ is Himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and is one of its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, can you estimate what you have gotten in Christ? In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). Consider that word God and its infinity, and then meditate upon perfect man and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is yours out of pure, free kindness, given over to you to be your guaranteed property forever.

Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Will it not comfort you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are completely yours? Does He have power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Does He have love? Well, there is not a drop of love in His heart that is not yours. You can dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you can say of it all, "It is mine!" Does He have justice? It might seem like a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for by His justice He will see to it that all that is promised to you in the covenant of grace will most certainly be secured for you.

All that He has as a perfect man is yours too. As a perfect man, the Father's delight was upon Him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God's acceptance of Christ is your acceptance. Do you not know that the love that the Father gave to a perfect Christ He gives to you now? All that Christ did is yours. That perfect righteousness that Jesus worked out, when through His stainless life He kept the law and made it honorable, is yours and is imputed to you. Christ is in the covenant.

My God, I am Thine, what a comfort divine,

What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine!
In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am,

And my heart it doth dance at the sound of His name.[2]

January 4

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

Grow in grace. Do not just grow in one grace, but in all grace.

Grow in that root grace of faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done before. Let faith increase in fullness, consistency, and simplicity.

Grow also in love. Ask that your love may be made larger, more intense, and more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed.

Grow in humility. Seek to be humble and to know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus.

May God the Holy Spirit enable you to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. He who does not grow in the knowledge of Jesus refuses to be blessed. To know Him is life eternal, and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not desire to know more of Christ knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ does satisfy, it is the type of satisfaction that does not overfill the appetite, but stimulates it. If you know the love of Jesus as the deer pants for the water brooks (Psalm 42:1) you will thirst to drink more deeply of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you do not love Him at all, for love always cries, "Nearer, nearer!" Absence from Christ is hell, but the presence of Jesus is heaven.

Do not, then, rest content without an ever-increasing nearness to Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal return. Abide close by the cross, and search the mystery of His wounds. An increase of love for Jesus and a more perfect comprehension of His love for us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

January 5

God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:4)

Light certainly should be good, since it sprang from that decree of goodness: Let there be light (Genesis 1:3). We who enjoy it should be more grateful for it than we are, and we should see more of God in it and by it. Physical light is said by Solomon to be pleasant (Ecclesiastes 11:7), but gospel light is infinitely more precious, for it reveals eternal things and ministers to our immortal natures.

When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual light and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we behold sin in its true colors and see ourselves in our real position. We see the Most Holy God as He reveals Himself, the plan of mercy as He presents it, and the world to come as the Word describes it.

Spiritual light has many beams and sparkling colors, but whether they are knowledge, joy, holiness, or life, they are all divinely good. If the light received is so good, what must the preeminent light be, and how glorious must the place be where God reveals Himself!

O Lord, since light is so good, give us more of it, and give us more of Yourself, the true Light.

No sooner is there a good thing in the world than a division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion. God has separated them; let us not confuse them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sincere, honest, and bold in their Lord's work, leaving the works of darkness to those who will dwell in darkness forever.

Our churches should divide the light from the darkness by discipline, and we should do the same by our distinct separation from the world. We must discern between the precious and the evil in judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, and in association, and we must maintain that great distinction between light and darkness that the Lord made upon the world's first day. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4).

O Lord Jesus, be our light throughout this entire day, for Your light is the Light of men.

January 6

Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

It is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we truly realize that He cares for me. Christian, do not dishonor the Christian religion by always wearing a brow of worry. Come and cast your burden upon your Lord. You are staggering beneath a weight that your Father would not feel. What seems to you to be a crushing burden would be to Him only as the small dust of the scale. Nothing is so sweet as to "Lie passive in God's hands, and know no will but His."[3]

O child of suffering, be patient. God has not passed you over in His providence. He who feeds the sparrows will also provide you with what you need. Do not sit down in despair, but continue to hope, and always hope. Take up the arms of faith against a sea of trouble, and your distresses will end. There is One who cares for you! His eye is fixed on you! His heart beats with compassion for your affliction! His omnipotent hand will yet bring you the needed help! The darkest cloud will scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom will give place to the morning.

If you are one of His family, He will bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart. Do not doubt His grace because of your troubles, but believe that He loves you just as much in seasons of distress as in times of happiness. What a peaceful and quiet life you would lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence!

With a little oil in the jar and a handful of flour in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why do you need to be worried? Can you trust Him for your soul, but not for your body? He has never refused to bear your

burdens. He has never fallen under their weight. Come, then; be done with anxious worry, and leave all your concerns in the hands of a gracious God!

[1] 1 This phrase is from Isaac Watts's hymn "Come, We That Love the Lord."

[2] 2 From the Charles Wesley hymn "My God, I Am Thine."

[3] 3 This is from a hymn by Augustus Toplady based upon Psalm 104:34.

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