A New Beginning
It’s a new year. So many things, both good and bad, have happened during the last 366 days. Amongst others, we’ve had the COVID-19 pandemic: something that will probably stay in our memories forever. We don’t know how things will turn out, and as I’m writing to you right now, I can tell you that I may be more confused than you. Another article that I am writing well before it’s release date, and so many things can change between now and publication. But I know that my message has a purpose and that that will not change, no matter what we will face.
I’ve already written a bit about new resolutions two weeks ago. Therefore, I would like to know: have you been able to keep those resolutions that you made on January 1st 2021? Have you seen progress, or did they fall into a pit of despair?
I posted a poll on my Instagram story not too long ago concerning the confinement that we were living through. I asked if the people following me felt as if they had evolved or regressed during this period. Few responded. But during the twelve hours that the story was up, the result leaned towards a feeling of regression.
And there. No matter what you lived in 2020, no matter what you had to experiment or live through. What you lived through, or even the reasons that pushed you to abandon those resolutions, it is not too late. It’s not too late to try again and to start again.
When the world - or at least the province in which I lived in - started a slow crawl towards normalcy and I got to return to church, my youth pastor proposed that we do something different than what we had done for the last year and a half and different from what we had to do to stay in fellowship with the rest of the group during times of confinement. He offered to reassess our relationship with God. And to find out how God wants us to live our relationship with Him. No magic formula, no one above one or the other. Of course, we get an education every week, but we all learn. We all submit to the same diet.
And we study not only the Word of God but our own lives according to it. Why am I telling you this? Simply because, believe it or not, this is what I have decided to do so many times during these months spent locked in my house. Every time I read the Bible or prayed, I had this will to really hold onto what the Word was saying. I have reorganized my prayer schedule, tried to be regular, and as of this writing I am still struggling with all of this. But all of a sudden, I was no longer the only one with new challenges.
I wanted to use the time of isolation to make a fresh start. Earlier in the year, I wanted to use my facility in a more personal place to make a fresh start. Whenever something changed around me, it was time to make a new decision, to ask myself "so, what now?" And each time it was a failure, after which I braced myself for the next opportunity to start over. Without telling me that today could be the time for change.
You may have the same mentality. I don't necessarily know you, but I would like to give you some encouragement: don't wait for THE next starting point. Don't wait for THE next opportunity. Now can be one. Now wherever you are, you can make a fresh start.
The Bible, in 2 Corinthians 6: 2, tells us that now is the day of salvation. So you don't have to wait. In privacy today you can make the decision to give your heart to Jesus and to abandon your situation of sin. And if it's already done, that doesn't mean the new beginnings are over. Maybe there is something you need to sort out, an aspect of your relationship with Him that you need to improve? Don't wait for tomorrow, don't wait for a new opportunity. You can do it now. And you can pray like David "O God create in me in pure heart, renew in me a willing spirit, renew in me a willing spirit" (Psalm 51:10)
Here is my invitation today: do not wait another day to make a fresh start. The opportunity is today.
Be blessed,
Have a wonderful week,
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