How exciting it is when a new year begins and there is the sense of a fresh beginning and a chance to start anew.
But for any of us that feeling is just that, a feeling. It is brief and passes like a summer wind in the tree tops. Then we are reminded of the treachery of our past and the failure of previous endeavors.
Yesterday I was with an old friend and we were talking about past times and all the fun we used to have. As we reminisced I mentioned how much I missed hanging out with him. Then last night I was thinking about our time together and it brought to mind a song we sang this summer at Fuge and the idea of fleeting hope in the new year.
The song was called Hosanna by Paul Baloche and the lyric that kept coming to mind is,
"Hear the sound of hearts returning to You, we turn to You"
The word that jumps out there is "return". To return to something you have to already been there. Just like returning to hang out with my friend, people have the choice to return to God. All this because God knows us and has known us, He knew our hearts and our souls even before we were born, and He is waiting for our return to Him so He can dwell in our lives.
So, if you are like me, and often lose sight of the new year and new chances only to spend most of your time screwing up and recalling your tainted past, then I pray this week that you dwell on this-
God, our Abba Father, knows you, has known you, and knows what this year holds, and He is like the old friend who knows you full well and enjoys spending time with you, no matter how much you have screwed up. He forgives and reaches across that sin and pulls us into His arms, if we simply look to Him for our future.
Take hope in this year, for, no matter what, it is there
"O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!"
-Psalm 139
Adam T.
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