2015

I cannot be sure what "thinking people" really think about the opportunity of facing a New Year.  Some will see it as only a chance to celebrate, while others reflect on a year passed, with sorrow and hurt.  It's been really tough on some lives, and even entire families.  As I write this I am following the news of an airliner that crashed into the sea killing everyone, and seeing how their families are dealing with such a tragedy.

I personally know several people who are having huge health problems, even facing sickness and disease that may take their lives.  I know of families that are breaking up, which began with great promises and declarations of lifelong togetherness.  And I know of kids who have grown up in Christian families, only to turn their backs on the spiritual truths they have been taught and even experienced in their short lives.  As much as we work hard in handling issues like drugs, sex trafficking, and racial tension, it seems for every step we take forward, we take two or more in reverse.

Can we enter this time of newness with more than resolutions about losing weight and managing our time better?  Is there more to the newness of the year which will enrich our lives and lead us to be better people, making better decisions, training our children to be decent citizens, continuing to build on the truth of God's Word?

Will we, as Christians, try to grow closer to God......will we be builders of God's Kingdom, growing on the foundations of Bible truth?  Will we do more than last year in things like inviting others to our worship or helping the homeless?  Will we actually do some "reaching out" to the cries of those who need the Lord in their lives?

I leave you with some verses to read, as you ponder these questions and others you may have about the new year which starts........today!

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV)

Philippians 3:13-14
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. (NLT)

Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (NASB)

Lamentations 3:22-24
The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" (NASB)

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