New Year’s Day
Monday, January 1, 2018
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Thirty-seven years ago today, we were (actually Stephanie was) laboring to bring a new life into this world. At 12:37 p.m., January 1, 1981, we welcomed Stuart James into our family. Holding him for the first time, I realized that my life had changed forever. Looking back, I see that my life changed for the better. My sons made me a better husband, caregiver, and man.
Genesis says that in the beginning, when God created heaven, earth and everything in it, creation was very good. Man, through sin, managed to despoil that beauty. Yet, God hasn’t given up on creation, or us, because of His love for us.
Two thousand years ago, God came to earth incarnate. He came to redeem His creation. Jesus came to offer a new vision for us, a life far better than what we can fathom. He challenged political and religious leadership. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and offered hope to those on the margins of society. Jesus came to offer us life without death, and He came to offer us abundant life today. God has given us the opportunity to work with Him to redeem His fallen creation, to make it holy.
Happy New Year! Another year, for better or worse, is in the books, and 2018 now stretches before us like an unpainted canvas. God invites us to be a part of His redemptive plan. What is He calling to you to do?
–Jim Neill