It is January 1st. Happy New Year! Whether you stayed up to watch a ball drop or two, or you went to bed early because you aren’t much of a night owl, you woke up to the first day of 2014.
Today isn’t too much different from yesterday, though. The sun still rose in the East and will set in the West. The bills you had to pay are still waiting for you. Your job still needs to be done, even if you get to enjoy a day off today.
When we get to New Year’s we talk a lot about starting over, starting fresh. We look forward to all of the good that is coming during the next twelve months while we try to forget all of the difficult trials of those past. But January 1st isn’t as magical as we would all like to be.
We all like the idea of fresh starts and second chances. New Year’s has come to sound like the Universe’s default button. Just take down that old calendar and put up a new one. There aren’t any commitments or appointments yet. Your life is fresh and clean.
But crossing into a new year doesn’t eliminate the baggage we carry. Sure, we’ve tried to drown it in holiday parties, gifts, and days full of “Christmas spirit”. What we haven’t managed to forget we hope that New Year’s will wash away for us.
Something inside of us longs for renewal. Our hearts and minds desire to be washed clean of the pain, turmoil and difficulty that we have endured. How wish our failures could be forgotten, torn relationships restored, and life trajectories corrected.
We wish for it and hope that something as simple as changing a calendar can do it for us. But it can’t. The first day of a new year doesn’t have that much power. So we give up hope that such a gift exists.
What if I told you that you could start over? What if there was hope that your hurts could be healed, your failures forgotten, and your life set on the best course?
So many infomercials promise you perfect results and the fulfillment of your dreams. They come with monthly install nets and “but wait, there’s more” offers. How quickly would we order the perfect remedy to our situation for just so many monthly payments?
There is one offer that we should take advantage of. It isn’t found in an infomercial, though you might find it on television. It’s not in your weekly flyer, but you ca find it in a Book.
It is Heaven’s offer of a new life in Jesus Christ. All of you our failures are removed from you as far as the East is from the West. In the middle of a trouble world there is peace that cannot be explained, available in abundance. You can have supernatural power to defeat darkness. And you will never be alone.
Maybe you’ve heard about it before. Maybe you’ve tried it out before. Maybe you are walking in it today. It is God’s free gift to us, if only we will believe.
Take it from someone who knows what it’s like to be suicidal. Take it from a guy who was all alone, even though I was surrounded by family, church people and classmates. I was without hope, and wondered if the world would notice if I wasn’t around.
Until I had a real encounter with the one true living God. No, I didn’t have a vision or hear a voice or fall down in front of some evangelist. I just opened my life to all that He is and is willing to give me. Life still has it good days and bad days. But I know He is with me, He loves me, He has a plan for me, and I will find the best in life with Him.
Do you want that? The best of your life. Hope, power, companionship, and life beyond what you think is possible. A new life, where the old passes away, and all things become new.
Open your life to the life of Jesus. Just close your eyes and ask Him to make Himself real in your life today. Ask for whatever you need—forgiveness of your failures, hope, joy, love, peace in the middle of difficulty or trial. And then ask Him to lead your life into the goodness that He has planned for you.
If you are looking for a real new start this New Year’s, you won’t find it in a new day planner. It can only come as you trust in the promise of God.
Check This Out
Sounds too easy? Sounds too good to be true? The Bible is not too good to be true. It is true, which makes it very good. Here are some slices of Scripture that promise these things for us.
Chris MacKinnon 