Well Happy
New Year praying this year is your best ever. I know it's been a while and life
can throw us a few curve balls. However, today is about new beginnings. No
matter what anyone says only God knows what's ahead for you and me in 2016. So
let's get ready and be willing to hear and do whatever it is He has in store
for each of us. His Word never returns void and he has placed promises in His
word for each of us to hold onto.
As I was looking
at all the posts about what people are expecting in 2016 all the diets to try
and all the opportunities people are praying for I was amazed to think that in
many cases these are some of the same things they said on January 1, 2015. It's
a new year, however we are doing the same things over again that we did last
year and the year before. We have our annual 21/40 day fast, 21 Days of Prayer,
that annual conference we have been attending for 15 years. Don't get me wrong these are great ways to
start off the New Year I have been involved in many of these.
However, they are not really something new. The wisest man who ever walked the
earth not counting Jesus tells us in Ecclesiastes 1:9-11;
“What has been will be again, what has been
done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is
something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. 11 No
one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will
not be remembered by those who follow them.”
Not being
disrespectful to those who swear by these “new beginnings” I am praying God
brings you great blessings from them. However, if you do them every year they
really are not something new.
I do want
to say when we look at scripture we come to understand one thing quickly there
is a lot of importance placed on the past as the New Testament writers tell us
about Jesus and who he is. We see it in the lineages in Matthew and Luke. There
are 12 fulfilled prophecies that Matthew indicates in his gospel so that we can
be assured of who Jesus really is. Not to mention all the quotes Jesus Himself
makes that are Old Testament verses. We come to know Jesus is the messiah and
our savior because of promises made in the past. So in our own lives there is a
lot of valuable information we can learn from last year that will help us grow
in 2016 if we are willing to be honest with ourselves and God as we go into
2016.
I guess
what I am trying to say is don’t through the baby out with the bath water as
you start 2016. Yes there are plenty of things we all did last year that we
need to not do in 2016. However, we know that most resolutions don’t make it
past January 1. So instead of trying to change 10 things today pick one and
focus on it. What one thing from last year do you want to be different in 2016?
For me I want to get back on track with God. I want to want what He wants to be what guides my decision making for my life and my family. You see it is easy to say that but it’s much harder to do than you might think. First it requires we put aside somethings; our personal preferences, our comforts and our crutches. Those excuses we make that keep us right where we are when God is calling us to so much more. I want to challenge you today examine last year what good choices did you make? What bad ones? Understand what can be changed and what cannot know the difference and start making the decisions that will bring health and wellness to your life. Be blessed today as we walk in the light of His Word
