A hearty welcome to 1/1/25!

How about we kick off 2025 with a little confession? “Happy New Year!” seems really big to me! The enormity of 365 days is just a little intimidating. Staring at the grandiose presentation of a blank planner both excites and unnerves me.

So as the New Year commences, I’ll do what I always strive to do – eat that elephant one bite at a time. I’ll hold out my hands in gratitude and ask for my daily bread. I’ll bow my head to thank God for the tools in my hands and the divine appointments that He’ll send my way. I’ll accept them as His heavenly provision for whatever He has in store for me – beautiful, perfectly portioned manna for the day.

I’m not discounting the validity of marking certain seasons or passages of time. In fact, there are plenty of holy days and celebrations described in Scripture – times when God’s people gathered to remember all that He had done for them.

Similarly, the start of a New Year is a good time to reflect on His activity in our own lives – His very personal blessings to us, the moments when His Word came alive and spoke directly into our situations, His perfect provision in His perfect timing. It can be a prayerful time to consider areas where our love for Him may be waning, where our obedience may be lacking, and where our commitment to His ways may be falling short.

And then it’s time to rise up and go forward into the New Year one day at a time - with blessings counted and lessons learned.

Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us of God’s great faithfulness to provide fresh compassions (or mercies, depending on the translation) every morning. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “…Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew  6:34)

In these verses and others, God is helping us to see that tackling more than the 24 hours in front of us is unhealthy for our minds and for our souls. Yes, wise planning for the future is rightly encouraged in Scripture, but where we’re actually to live is underneath the shade of the morning mercies of our faithful God. What if we change our mindset to align with the heart of His Word and consider each day as a gift from Him, celebrating and rejoicing as we should?!

In light of that, here's a blessing I can give you with all of my heart and one that I’ll be praying for you daily in 2025 – “Have a blessed New Day!”