Today is the first day of this new year 2014. All of us who read this can pause for a moment and give thanks to our God that we have arrived on the door step of this brand new year that He is giving to us, one day at a time.
And so the story that He is writing in each one of our lives continues with this latest chapter in the Book with our name on it in the Title - The Life of ______________ (fill in the blank with our own name.)
Whatever age you happen to be, sometime this year you will be one year older than you were last time this year.
That will be true for me as well shortly and I can't help to reflect on the prospect of being one year closer to homegoing (Kingdom of Heaven) than I ever was in my life. Each new year should remind us of that inevitable fact. But not to be sad or morbid about it but rather to rejoice in the opportunity for life and for living here on earth for Him for the time He gives us.
As we get older many of us tend to appreciate more each new year of life and even breaking that year down into each new month, week and eventually as some reach their eighties and nineties, day.
So here we are with a whole new year in front of us. 365 blank pages in front of us to write the story of each day upon. At the end of the year we will have another complete chapter, 365 pages long to add to the story of each of our lives.
On this first page of this year I choose to give God the glory for the life He has given me to live all these years, both the good and the bad. It all got me to where I am today. And that is said not with the understanding or proclaiming that everything is just wonderful and nothing more is wanted or desired. On the contrary. Their are needs and dreams just like everyone has, who is still among the living.
But in spite of things that are still needed, dreams that are still unfulfilled etc. etc. It is good to pause for a moment and be able to declare with the Psalmist - "it is well with my soul"
My relationship with the Living God which I know is eternal and which I know has already started here and now in this life, will sustain me for the rest of this year and any other year in the future that the good Lord in His sovereign grace, desires to grant me.
It is for Him and Him alone that we live and move and have our being.
So as we enter this new chapter in the story of each of our lives, let each of us begin anew and afresh and with the right motivation, with God in our hearts as we walk in the personal direction that He has for each one of us, trusting that He who began a good work in us, will complete it. Amen.
Jeremiah 29:11
New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
