USHERED INTO THE NEW

Lingering in the last days and moments of the old year while waiting to usher in the new, I wonder. I wonder what awaits me? Changes, yes. New year's resolutions, no. I hardly ever make a list on the eve of the year to mark all the things that I will do: weight to lose, closets to clean, goals to accomplish, it all seems exhausting! Could it be more about how I will be in the coming season and less about what I will do.

What if the New Year was about fruitfulness and how the King has called me to yield fruit as I am planted by streams of water? Even though I live in New England and most streams have frozen still, I am somehow aware that being productive is important. Being able to bear fruit that will last looks like something, even in winter's chill. The streams of living water that refresh the soul (John 4: 4-15) are within, and maybe my goal in the coming year needs to be about making sure I can hear the water within my soul running free and clear; the world, with all its clamoring and clutter stops up the river at times. All that we value and hold dear too often costs us dearly.


Our world prizes prosperity; and yet, it often appears preposterous that we should seek and save for all this accumulation when the King came and emptied Himself and gave. What has He given to us that we might use to yield a harvest? What if, at the end of this year, we consider what we bring to the world rather than what we can gain or accomplish, or order and organize?

If I started with love, how would the world look, how would my world be different? It might be a little kinder and gentler and less about me and my lists. It could be something far greater than me, it might be about changing the world with the love I've been given. Life always begins in the small things; the "little way of love" is a simple and supremely challenging path to begin at the cusp of the New Year.

Come join me on the journey to a better you- oddly enough it begins in the heart and with love. You are loved, delighted in, rejoiced over and you can walk in confidence because God is with you. He is a mighty God and we love because He first loved us. Try it and see; no matter what your situation, circumstance, relationships, begin to bring love and watch what happens. It may not be easy, but take a big leap this year, and remember, "Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." And, "Love never fails," 1 Corinthians 13:7-8.

Medicine from Sacred Scriptures:

"The Lord your God is with you,

 He is mighty to save.

 He will take great delight in you, 

He will quiet you with His love, 

He will rejoice over you with singing." 

Zephaniah 3:17