Start the New Year Off Right
“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 3:6,7
Have you planned your New Year’s resolutions yet? What new diet are you starting January 1st? Maybe you’re planning to give something up. Maybe you’re planning to start something new. Or maybe you’re planning to restart something old.
How was your relationship with God this past year? Was he first in your life? Did you make time for him?
Perhaps this past year you turned away from God’s Word. Maybe not a 180° turn. But a slight turn. Other things in your life took priority. Kids. Work. Leisure. I’m not saying I’m perfect in this regard either.
Do you know who is? As unfaithful as we can be to hearing and reading God’s Word and to doing his will, God is always faithful. That’s what he told the Israelites: “I the Lord do not change.” Long ago, he had made a covenant that he wouldn’t destroy Israel. Even though they turned away from him again and again since the time of their ancestors, God still didn’t destroy them.
In fact, he called them to return. “Return to me, and I will return to you.” God hadn’t destroyed them physically, but they were dying and dead spiritually. God wanted them to return to him so that they would again receive his spiritual blessings of peace, hope, and forgiveness.
God has been faithful to you throughout this entire year. He doesn’t change. And even though you haven’t always been faithful to him, he still reaches out with his call to return. Return to hearing his Word. Go to church where you can receive his Supper for the forgiveness of your sins. Come home to him, and he will give you rest.