Untitled article by J. S. Miller

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, January 14, 1868

MY NEW DIARY.

By J. S. Miller

This evening, (Jan. 1st, 1868,) as I sat down to note the events of the day, a solemn train of thought took possession of my mind. First, as I glanced back to one year ago to-night, and on the first page of my diary for 1867, read the platform by which I vowed to be governed for the year that is past, could I say with truth that I had faithfully stood upon it? That platform was, “To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.” Can I claim to have come up to this standard? Could I but glance at the books of the recording angel, should I not there find more black marks against my name than I should wish to see? How would despair fill my heart, were it not encouraged by the words of the apostle, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John ii, 1.

Surely these reflections begot in me feelings of the deepest humility. Here is a platform of my own choosing, and I have not stood squarely upon it. Shall I lower the standard for 1868? Can I do so and remain a Christian? Most certainly not. What shall I do? There is but one course for me to pursue. I must seek forgiveness for my past sins, and rely on the promise of the Master, that, “Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out,” and say like Paul “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”

Before me, in the future, is a year of unfulfilled events. Before me, on the table, is my new diary for 1868 with its clean white pages. One year hence, and the events of my life for the year 1868 will be history. If I am faithful to my trust, one year hence I shall again look upon these pages, and there read an outline of my course of life. What that outline shall be, depends almost wholly upon myself. Shall I, one year hence, look back and see that I have backslidden from God, and have grown cold and indifferent to the cause of truth and the important events that are now transpiring in connection with the third angel's message, or shall I find that the work of consecration has gone deeper, my own life become purer, my sphere of influence and usefulness wider, my responsibilities greater, and my capacity for understanding truth enlarged? Oh! that I may have much of the Spirit of God to guide me into all truth, that my diary on Dec. 31, 1868, may show less cause for regret than it did on the last day of the old year. Brethren and sisters, far and wide, pray for me.

J. S. MILLER.

Westerly, R. I., Jan. 1, 1868.