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Embarking upon a New Year

Of course, January begins with New Year’s Eve. All over the world it’s an occasion for the gathering of multitudes in large urban squares. People have massed together to celebrate celebrating! For hours people cluster, expectantly watching and waiting for the big red apple or golden globe or silver sardine or whatever to slide down the pole, signaling the beginning of a brand-new year.

Now a person my venerable age probably wonders, with increasing anxiety “Where is the nearest bathroom?” Yet something else puzzles me: “What good is it if the year becomes new but we do not? What’s good about a brand-new year when I am still the same old person?”
I can’t help noticing that most of us limp into the new year with all of our grudges, jealousies, bitterness, and unwillingness to forgive. We lug our problems with us. Thus, the hysterical cries of “Happy New Year!” somehow ring hollow.

In Philippians 3:13-14 we read “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on to the goal to win the prize for which God has called me —-.”
And in Hebrews 12:1-2 we read:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Only then can you have a Happy New Year!

Amen

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Shine Like the Stars

Available for Pre-Order.  Each of us has been given a gift: our life. Someday we must return it to its rightful owner. We are free to use this gift in any way we choose: to glorify God or to glorify ourself. St. Paul used his to glorify God and, in so doing, found the secret of joy. decided to write a devotional commentary on his letter to the fledgling Christian community in Philippi. They too were discovering the secret of genuine joy. I am hoping that the same faith which dazzled them will do the same for you, and that the same joy which filled their hearts will fill yours. Get ready to shine like stars.

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