Throw the old ways as far as the East is from the West
Everyone deserves a new start. The beginning of a new year brings new hopes and dreams. It also affords us the opportunity to begin again.
The book of Genesis in the Bible is a book meaning new beginnings. The book is full of stories of common people like us who made mistakes and started anew. The scripture affirms its own realism by reminding us that even the choicest of God’s servants sometimes fail.
Consider God’s servant Moses. Moses was guilty of killing an Egyptian. Through repentance he was restored to God’s fellowship. Later, he arose to be God’s man for the deliverance of the entire Hebrew nation.
Or, take Jacob. Jacob was a trickster who cheated his own brother out of his inheritance. But, Jacob in sorrow over his deeds, went to Bethel and wrestled with an angel becoming a prince in Israel.
Further, we would be amiss not to mention Abraham. Abraham doubted the angel of God when told he would have a son in his old age. In his lack of faith he took matters into his own hands and lay with his handmaiden Leah. That joining produced a son named Ishmael. Later, God gave Sarah a son named Isaac. When commanded, Abraham offered his son of promise Isaac for a sacrifice as instructed by God. Yet God spared Isaacs life after testing Abraham’s faith restoring Abraham to become the father of many nations.
Noah was chosen by God to offer deliverance and salvation to a corrupt world through building an Ark. Before he was chosen for the task, Noah got drunk and lay exposed before his family. Yet God counted Noah a just and righteous man after his sorrow and repentance. The list of people granted new beginnings continues in the book of Genesis. It is as if the Lord is saying that He is willing to give us a new start when we fail.
Last year there may have been some failures in your life. You tried to be faithful and true to your faith and service to God, but sin entered in and you failed. Let me encourage you dear friends that God is not through with you yet. Go to Him and repent of your failure and ask for His help and you too will find a new start in 2020. Yes, God loves you with an everlasting love and desires to give you a new beginning like His choice servants in Genesis.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 103:10-12 (NASB)
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
He made this possible by sending Jesus Christ as sacrifice for your sins and mine. His desire is to set you free to experience a brand new beginning. He says when we repent of our sins that “He wipes them as far as the East is to the west and remembers them no more.”
It’s time to put the failures of last year behind us and look forward with hope to a new year with new hopes and possibilities. God has a definite plan for your life. He sent Jesus to give you life abundant. He desires His very best for your future. Don’t listen to the mockery of the enemy. Christ has the power to set you free.