(Don’t Be a Toad!)
At this point in the year you may be thinking it’s too late to make a new resolution — January 1st has passed you by and left you in the dust, with absolutely no hope of a new beginning. Bummer- you’re going to have to wait another year, stuck in the mud. Or are you?!
Actually, I have some great news for you — it’s never too late to make good decisions! In fact, New Year’s Day used to be celebrated by the Romans, in March. Their calendar had only 10 months and March was the first month of the year. Makes sense!
So let’s move our New Year’s date to March 1st, which gives us more time to come up with some really cool, and maybe more practical, resolutions! I actually did some checking around and found several great resolutions that at least force one to do some deeper thinking. Try these on for size and see if any are a good fit for you:
~ I will wave to fellow motorists at four-way stops.
~ I will have my photo taken in five interesting places.
~ I will not eat six donuts every day.
And my very favorite:
~ I will stop leaving my dirty gym socks lying in the middle of the floor. I’ll leave them on the kitchen table where they’re easier to reach. (Seriously , that last one is just terrible, isn’t it?!)
But truthfully, making resolutions at the start of each year is a good thing. Having a fresh start (a “do-over”) can be a valuable tool. The alternative, of course, is to do nothing, to never make new decisions or course adjustments to your life. The moral of this thought – don’t be a toad! Toads hibernate all winter in dead logs or in the mud! No progress, no personal growth, no changed life – they’re simply stuck in the mud.
Thankfully, there’s a terrific passage in the Bible that directly addresses “do-overs.” Lamentations 3:22 tells us: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” So did you catch exactly what God does here? It’s great – He actually gives us a New Years do-over date every single day!
“His mercies” literally mean clemency, grace, forgiveness, generosity, etc. Understanding that definition, I think it would be very difficult to find anyone who didn’t want to start their day without that. And, it’s freely available to us every single day. Every day!! That’s amazing actually!
And really, would we expect anything less from God, our heavenly Father?! As parents, don’t we want to extend newness, forgiveness, and mercies to our own children every day? How much more our heavenly Father extends mercies towards His children who ask for it?
The Bible clearly teaches us that God can bring peace to our past, purpose to our present and hope to our future. It’s our choice – each one of us can choose a life of growth. All we have to do is take advantage of our God-given do-over opportunities and go for it. Don’t be a toad — be a game changer! Make this a fabulous life starting today!
As someone once said: “You can’t go back and make a brand new start, but you can start now and make a brand new ending.”
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet. For more information you can visit them at DPCityChurch.com
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