Right now, we are in the final moments and hours of 2010. At the stroke of midnight, it will end and the new year of 2011 will begin. So many things have taken place. What will the new year bring? None of us knows. The ultimate truth I know is God is in control no matter what happens and he makes all things new. He already sent Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, into the world “to seek and to save that which was lost” and redeem mankind from the bondage of sin. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice on the cross, taking all of the sin, judgement, and punishment we originally deserve. Three days later, in victory, he rose from the dead and later ascended back to God Almighty. He sits at the right hand side of the Father and offers salvation to those who will accept it. One day, he will return for those who have trusted in him alone. God’s love is totally unconditional and his grace is amazing.
In this coming new year, there are some things I hope to continually do/accomplish in my life. Some of them are…
**reading the Bible daily (maybe read through a book in the Old and/or New Testament)
**pray every morning or evening
**worship/Sunday School at the local church I am a member of
**work hard
**community involvement
Also, I am reading the “Confession of Faith” that basically is a guide to everything about the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the main purposes, along with who God is. Tomorrow morning, I will also begin reading a yearly devotional titled, “Our Daily Bread” and hope to later on read “In Step With God: Understanding His Ways And Plans For Your Life” by Charles Stanley. I pray that God will move, work, and grow in my heart and life and that I will obey him every step of the way in 2011.
So I ask…where is your hope found in the new year? Is it found in things of this world? Are you making any resolutions or have you made the greatest decision ever…to accept Jesus Christ personally as Lord and Savior–his gift of salvation–and letting him guide and direct you?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
**2nd Corinthians 5:17
“The obeject of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.”
**G.K. Chesterton
Have a safe and Happy New Year!
