^“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”   James 4:13-17 ESV

The saying, “out with the old and in with the new” has taken on a whole new meaning for me this year. Hopefully they aren’t referring to the elderly when they say this. It does get me thinking though. Maybe the end of the year is the perfect time to get rid of all the garbage we’ve been collecting over the past twelve months – all the anger, fear, indignation, impatience, pessimism, discouragement, loneliness, etc. Cleaning out all that serves no real purpose in our life, rquires leaving it behind and replacing all with things like encouragement, peace, love, service, optimism, involvement, kindness.

It’s a great time to actually do something about the things that troubled us this past year. The best place to start is to hear what God says about our future. Jesus told his disciples what to expect at the final judgment. He told them to be on guard at every turn and ready, because we don’t know when that time will come. Only His passion for us will redeem us, but He also tells us that what we do here on earth is as if we were doing it for Him.  To truly follow Christ, we must stop thinking about ourselves and place others first.  Not an easy task at any time of the year.  Espcially when someone has done you a disservice or caused you pain, but compeletely possible with God’s help.

Dear Father, God, as we approach a new year, show us how you would have us live through your  Holy Word, the Bible. May each day bring a new beginning for us in our attitudes, our appreciation for all you’ve done, and for all your creation. Help us to set aside the things that get in the way by placing our complete trust in you and your guidance.  Allow us to forget those things that drag us down and help us to focus on the things that you want for us.  With that in place, we should all have a very happy new year.  Amen!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BLOGGING COMMUNITY.  MAY THE PEACE OF THE LORD LIVE IN YOUR HEARTS TODAY AND ALWAYS!