“In the beginning …”
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1:1-3; NIV. Please read Genesis 1-3.)
As this new year begins … let us start at “the beginning”:
where God’s revelation begins …
where God’s power begins …
where God’s faithfulness begins …
where God’s goodness begins …
where God’s love begins …
where God’s search for sinners begins …
where God’s war against Satan begins …
where God’s judgment begins …
where God’s work begins …
It is here where we will be begin to learn of the divineness of God … the humanness of Man … the evilness of Satan. But it is also where we will begin to learn of the pleasures of life … the union of marriage … the consequences of sin.
Today, as we eat the bread of the Word of God … may we begin a year-long … life-long search for God’s will and ways.
ON SECOND THOUGHT: Today might be a good day to begin reading God’s Word daily. We eat every day … drink every day … so let us begin that habit today with His Word.
January 1, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I want to begin that habit. I want to begin getting to know God better. I want to begin again. I feel like Saul … when the scales fell off his eyes. It’s like I’m seeing things through new eyes … I want to begin to really see all that God has done, and why He did it so that I can appreciate the blessings I receive through Him. It all starts here … this will be a good time for me to start seeing the whole picture.
Thank you for encouraging me to read the Word. This is going to help me so much.
January 1, 2008 at 8:21 pm
YAY! I want to start at the beginning. Every time it’s different for me…it’s like seeing God for the first time. Things I didn’t notice…things I didn’t bother to understand…things I didn’t let sink in.
I love this place! And I love yall~ I’m ready to learn….please teach me.
January 1, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I love the beginning…everytime I read it I try to imagine – these folk (to whom Moses wrote the book) have just gone through 430 years of probably no communication, dealing with Egyptian customs, cultures, gods, etc…and they need to get to know their God – the only true God – and so Moses through inspiration – introduces them to God. So in essence, this is how God would introduce Himself…and the story just keeps getting better everytime.
From the beginning up until the tme God ran to bring us back home…I’m ready…let’s eat!
January 3, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I love that our God is the God of beginnings. I also love the excitement I see in those who commented above. It really does make me smile and be glad of heart as I see the difference Jesus is making in all of us. The freshness of beginning is inspiring in itself.
And it’s not only for the first day of the year, although I love that too. And our “newness” isn’t limited to the day we became “new creatures” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Our minds can be regularly renewed. And our Lord’s mercies are fresh every morning (Lamentations 3:22f). Therefore we will rejoice and be glad in this new beginning as well. May God bless us all with growing intimacy with Him as the days which He may give us come and go.