The great general had led his troops to a hard-fought but resounding triumph on the field of battle. With the enemy army now vanquished and scattered, he rallied his regiments to press on toward the capital where they would secure the final victory. And though the men marched briskly, he urged them to still greater speed. In their haste, they began to toss aside whatever was superfluous, whatever was redundant, whatever was unnecessary. Soon the road was littered with all that would burden them and slow their progress, for they knew that with their conquest would come honor, home, and rest. We have left behind one year and entered into another. And with our cries of “happy new year,” with our cheers and hugs, each of us took one more step toward our final victory. We are one hour, one day, one month, one year closer to the end of our days, the end of our march. And the nearer we approach our destination, the more we long to arrive, the more we long to be in that place of triumph, that place of ease. In the great march that is the Christian life, the passing of the years ought to be marked by what has been laid aside, by what has been taken off and tossed away. As we progress toward our destination, our pathway ought to be strewn with the sins, weights, transgressions, and burdens that slowed our steps, that thwarted our advance. Tossed in the ditch beside the roadway should be the … Continue reading A Heart That Is Free, A Step That Is Light