2 Cor 5:17 NLT ……. anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
The poem, “The Land of Beginning Again” was born in the mind of a troubled young lady named Louisa Fletcher, early in the 20th century. Louisa’s life had been tumultuous at best. Her first husband, the famous poet, Booth Tarkington, was a desperate alcoholic, and their marriage ended in divorce after only a few years, but another marriage soon presented her with a daughter. That child however, was born schizophrenic, ending her young life at the age of 16. A year later Louisa wrote this poem, and shortly thereafter, died herself. The grief of a troubled life is evident between the lines. A life that sought a better station is clear, a place where deeds were forgiven and things became new.
I wish that there were some wonderful place
In the Land of Beginning Again.
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
and never put on again.
“There is such a place”, you say, hoping to be spared the same fate as the poet.
Certainly at the end of the road, just before the Gates of pearl, all the cares and mistakes and sins of life may be discarded like the tattered old coat; dropped off in a heap behind us, allowing us to freely step forward at last.
“Yes”, we are told, “ there is One who stands at the gate to welcome us there! One who knows the fold’s of that worn out old coat, and every mile it has traveled, and One to whom it matters not. He stands at the doorway to forgiveness, and shows the way into the Land of Beginning Again.”
But the gate to the land, my friend, is not at the end of the road, but at the beginning of the day. He awaits, new every morning, to greet and forgive, to guide and to refresh. His name is eternal, his presence internal, and your joy alone is His.
Open your Bible this morning, and see him there: “In the beginning… God.” Forgiveness is His, where yesterday has been discarded, and tomorrow is clothed in promises anew. Join Him daily, in “The Land of Beginning Again.”
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