Yesterday is passed and gone
Into the annals of eternity
Today is another opportunity given
To determine our final destiny
Just like a day that has gone
Another year has absolutely flown
No doubt we have done a lot of reaping
But certainly too we have sown
For while the future is uncertain
And no man knows its outcome
It is still with eager anticipation
We look forward to the rising sun
It is therefore with thanksgiving
That before our gracious Lord we bow
For given the challenges of the past year
God has kept us until now
It amazes me how God does it
How He manages it every time
But it is not our assignment to work it out
Just our mind and soul to him incline
And so as we glance back over the year
Just a glance it really should be
Enough to learn from mistakes we made
And the lessons they hold for you and me
Not in griping and in bashing ourselves
Or in apportioning blame to anyone
But pressing on with an enlightened resolve
By the way in which we respond
Glancing back to note what was unfinished
To see how better could have been done
With a view to executing more assiduously
And those failings in the New Year shun
Glancing back to rejoice for a little
At the goals we have achieved
Yet looking forward at what must be done
And pursuing the same with full speed
Glancing back at the friendships forged
But looking forward to stronger ties
Sustaining the effort to make new friends
While on our Heavenly Friend rely
Glancing back, yes, that’s important
Not in the way that Lot’s wife did
But to take note of the gains that were made
And press on further to make new bids
Successes, whether great or small
That’s where we ought to walk along
But the failures too need not distract
For their lessons can make us strong
As we glance back at the passing year
While nothing about it can be done
It can still provide us with a reference point
As we look forward to the year to come
Looking forward suggests many things
Like our preparation and our plans
It also means every man on deck
Working with heart and head and hands
Looking forward means in anticipation
That treats to the good and the bad
By wholly depending on the Master
For no one better can be had
For the storms of life will come
And the tempests our ship will toss
But throughout all of 2018
Not a single soul will be lost
We must look forward to His promise
And on it in 2018 hold fast
Who knows whether Jesus’ second coming
Will occur before the year is passed
The signs of the times are everywhere
The Bible clearly points them out
At any moment the Lord can return
Are you looking forward for that shout?
With a shout Jesus will rent the clouds
And the skeptics will then believe
But too late will be their howling cries
Their fate will by then be sealed
Glancing back at all the opportunities
When God’s Word to them had called
Now looking forward to an eternity
Where there is no hope for them at all
Glancing back at the cross
And the tremendous price that Christ did pay
Looking forward to the crown
That he has promise to us that day
Glancing back is noticeably passive
It is really a matter of taking stock
Looking forward however is active
It is the process of building block by block
As we look forward therefore let us build
As we see the time approaching
Glancing back only briefly to see
That the enemy is not on our step encroaching
Charged with the solemn responsibility
Of telling the lost about Christ
Thus looking forward to a fruitful year
A bumper harvest would be nice
Stewart Russell © November 2017
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