A New Year, A New Beginning and a New Day


       Every January 1st we welcome a new year! New Year’s Day is a time for reflection. We ponder the past year… the events, our achievements and our failures. We also consider our foibles, and how we can improve ourselves. Many of us vow to lose weight, start a workout program, eat healthier, or in general, decide to become a better person.

     The wonderful thing about January is that it is the genesis of the year. Genesis is the start or beginning of something. No matter what the past year was like or what it brought to us, when January comes, it is a chance to begin anew. We can take the blank slate of a new year and an unknown future and put together plans, goals, hopes, and dreams. Or we build on what we have already started in previous years. 

     Not only is January 1st a time of genesis, but every day we wake up is a new beginning!  How blessed we are that 365 days a year, we can experience genesis! Every morning we awaken with a fresh slate before us! Our hearts fill with excitement as we anticipate the new adventure that the beginning of each day brings. It does not matter how good or bad the previous day was to us…this new morning starts the rest of our lives!

     It is up to us, with the Lord’s help, to determine how we handle and plan for our new beginning. As a New Year or new day approaches, we can look ahead with hope. It doesn’t matter whether we encountered tragedies, dealt with disappointments, or failed at something we felt was important. What is past cannot be changed. Now we have a chance to let the past go and move forward.

     The same can be said for each day we have been given. We can move forward and let go of the past on a daily basis. God gives us another chance to do better, heal, and begin anew, and it starts now…on this day. 

    When we look forward with hope, we honor life in tragedy, convert disappointments to positive resolve, and it gives us another chance to turn our failures to successes. Every January and every morning, the Lord gives us a chance to begin again…to start fresh.  However, it is up to us to make the most of the opportunity, use all of the resources we have and be thankful for the blessings the Lord supplies to us.      

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “a plan to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”    Jeremiah 29:11

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