Astronomical Christians.
By Editor
THIS is what the Christian at Work calls those who make good resolutions periodically on the first of January. This and that bad habit is to be broken off; a new leaf is to be turned over; church duties are to be more faithfully discharged, etc. The new leaf is turned over, but soon it becomes old; temptations assail; the old appetites clamor for indulgence; and soon the page is as black as the previous one. Then the individual becomes discouraged, but thinks to make amends for his remissness by saying, “Next year I will do better;” and he waits for January 1, to come around again before he makes another attempt. This is a fair statement of the case of more than a few. That such a course is wrong need hardly be said. Not that it is wrong to make good resolutions at the beginning of the year, or at any other time; but it is wrong to wait until some set time before putting the resolution into practice, or to despair because a resolution has been broken. Have you turned over a new leaf that is already soiled? Have your New Year resolutions already been broken? Begin again, immediately, and press on with the help of God. The Christian life is a constant warfare; it is a race in which they only succeed who run with persevering patience, looking steadfastly unto Jesus. Perhaps the trouble with your resolution was, as is usually the case with those that are put off till some definite time, that it was made in your own strength. If so, failure was to be expected. If you are in this condition, or if you have not made any resolution at all, do it now. Do not put it off till “a more convenient season,” for you may not live to see it. Jesus Christ is as willing and able to help you now as he will be next year, for he is “the same yesterday and to-day and forever.” But you are not sure of forever, nor even of to-morrow. “Now is the accepted time.”