Morning, January 1, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“They ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year. ” — Joshua 5:12

Israel’s weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the produce of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be your case or mine. The prospect is joyful, and if we are active exercising faith, it will yield unadulterated delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remains for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double blessing. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the fair land, but let us rest assured that 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, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be “forever with the Lord.”

A part of the host of believers will this year linger on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year’s text should not still be true. “We who have believed enter that rest.” The Holy Spirit is the down payment 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 sing hymns to 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!