New Year’s Day brings to mind resolutions and new beginnings for most people. This day is when thousands of people all over the world begin their diet, their exercise program, stop smoking, start reading their Bible, and other things that they feel that they need to change in their lives. For Christians, however, there is no need to wait until New Year’s Day to begin anew, because God brings us new mercies each and every day. In Lamentations 3:22-24, the author is describing how God’s love is new for us every single day. In The Message, these verses say:
22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up.They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left.
In The Amplified Bible, these verses say:
22It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. 24The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.
Don’t you just love the last parts of both of these versions of the Bible? The Message says, “I’m sticking with God…He’s all I’ve got left” and The Amplified Bible says, “I will hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.” We have the opportunity to begin anew with Him and put our hope in Him every day, every minute, every second. We don’t have to wait for Sunday, for the New Year, or even for a new day. We can stop right where we are and begin anew.
His mercies are new every single day. What is mercy? It is defined by Merriam-Webster as “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender…” We are an offender when we sin. God shows us compassion every single time we turn to Him in repentance to wash us clean and give us a new beginning, no matter when it is.
Start your New Year out right. Stop right now and consecrate yourself to Him. Don’t wait until Sunday or “the right time.” He is waiting for you to put your hope in Him right now.
Lord, I come to You right now and I ask You to put a hunger for You in each woman’s heart that reads this today. I ask that You engrave upon their souls a need to hope in You and wait expectantly on You every single day. Let them feel Your love and mercy as they go through their day, whether it is at work, at home, or with the kids. Let where they are be a mission field for You. In Your Precious Name, Amen.
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