At the End of the Old Year

Just a few more moments, and this year will be behind us. Where have all the hours, the days, and months gone?

They have fled by as a shadow which passes over a wall. They will never return, and we will never be able to repeat them. They are past and, then, forever. What a painful thought! As this year has quickly gone by, so all of our years will go until, one day, we will stand upon the Old Year’s evening of our life, the last hour, to depart from this life. And then...?

My faithful reader, what will be the case when you must begin that great journey? More than ever we are called at the end of the year to consider this question. The Lord is busy to close down our life. No, that is not only at the end of this Old Year but with the ending of this New Year; the Lord again shuts down a portion of the time of grace allotted unto us. The Lord is shutting down the door of our life.

Just consider what that means. There, the ark is drifting about upon the restless waters while around it everything is being carried away by the troubled waves. Oh, see them flee, both men, women, and children to the highest mountains. It is too late, for also there they are followed by the restless waves. When the Lord shuts, it is permanently done with the warnings. For one hundred twenty years Noah has stood among the people as the preacher of righteousness. Year in and year out he has testified that safety could be found only in the ark. No one wanted to listen; they mocked this man who was building an ark upon the dry land, at a time when there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky. They said he was insane. Then the LORD shut him in. The Lord’s patience had come to an end. Soon the waters churned and swirled over the earth, and it seemed as if all of nature was astonished because of the curse of the Lord. Then man and beast shuddered when God began to reckon with the guilt of the earth. How dark was this Old Year’s Eve which fell over the first world? We are reminded of it on this day.

Dear readers, one day, night will also fall over this world. If you look toward the horizon of the times, in the distance you will already see dark clouds forming. If you listen closely, the sound of approaching thunder can be heard. There is severe weather coming. The God of justice will not let Himself be mocked forever. Do you see the door closing? The Lord is shutting down. How terrible it will be to fall into His hands unconverted. I earnestly pray you to hasten for your life’s sake while the door of grace is still open. No matter who you may be, young or old, consider the rod and who has ordered it.

However, there lies rich comfort in this serious word. It was not Noah who had to be concerned for the safety of the ark. When soon the ark was carried higher and higher upon the boisterous waves, in my thoughts, I see him kneeling before the window which has been placed high in the ark. When you listen, you can hear him singing by the noise of the waterspouts, “God is a refuge for His people.”

Blessed is the man who does not have to leave this Old Year for his own account. It is true he enters the New Year with many shortcomings and imperfections, but he does not go alone. With that trust he dares to go further, by moments, until one day the year will come upon which an Old Year’s Eve will never follow. How is your journey, my readers, as the Lord begins to close the door?

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