A New Beginning...

​   Another year has come and gone.  At the beginning of a new year people typically reflect on their past life, the memories, the challenges, the mistakes, the successes, the failures.  Many wish they could go back and do things differently.  They wish they could have a new beginning. 

​   Oh, if only we could turn back the hands of time, how we would change things.  Careless, harsh, hurtful words would be erased.  Poor decisions would be undone.  Opportunities lost would be taken advantage of.  Tragedies would be averted.  Stupid choices would be corrected.  Foolishness would be replaced with wisdom.
   But there is no reverse in the gears of time.  Once used, each moment of time is gone forever.   It cannot be called back, it’s irreplaceable.  And, because of the finality of life in this world, the more time we let slip by, the less we have left.
   Job spoke of his days as being “swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” and his life being but “a breath!” (Job 7:6-7).  The Psalmist described life as “A breath that passes away and does not come again.” (Ps. 78:39).  James referred to it as “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (Jas. 4:14).
   As we advance out of our teen years and move into adulthood time seems to pick up speed.  As the years on the calendar keep ticking off time seems keep kicking into a higher gear.  As intriguing as is the idea of a time machine allowing us to go back in time and fix our past life, there is no going back.  Once the waters of life flow under the bridge of time they never flow backward and start over again.
   But there is something profound that we can do.  While we cannot undue the past, we can change our course in the present.  We can make up our minds to live a different life from this point forward.  We can think differently, act differently, live differently.  We can develop a new focus on life and the future.  The apostle Paul called it walking “circumspectly” (Eph. 5:15).  In a real sense, making such a change is like getting a new beginning.
   Jesus came to this world to offer everyone a new beginning.  His very name means “Savior” (Matt. 1:21).  He came specifically to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice to pay the price for the guilt of our sins (Heb. 2:9; 9:26-28).  Our sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:2).  But through Christ our sins can be blotted out (Isa. 1:18).  At Baptism they will be washed away (Acts 22:16), and God will remember them no more (Heb. 8:12).  You will be a new person, spiritually (2 Cor. 5:17). 
   You could not hope for a better, a more far reaching new beginning than what Jesus is offering you right now.  Here’s your chance.  Will you take advantage of it?…