December 31 2024

Tuesday December 31

A Great God of “New Beginnings”

Luke 9:1-6

1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them." 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Our God is a God of “New Beginnings”. Tomorrow, we get the first day of a brand new year. Isn't it amazing how God does things so that we get the first day of a week, we get the first day of a month, the first day of the new year, and in Christ, every day is a brand-new day to encourage one another and to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the first day of the last of the rest of our life. Even today, the last day of the year, is still the first day of the rest of our life, and this is a good day to begin thinking about how you want to live out your life in 2025. How you want your life to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

We get so busy these days that we're overwhelmed with busyness. I mean being busy so encompasses our life that it takes all control of us. Over the years we have talked about “the tyranny of the urgent”. Charles Hummel wrote about this:

 "Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important. We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that many important tasks need not be done today, or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study, a visit to an elderly friend, reading an important book: these activities can usually wait a while longer. But often urgent, though less important, tasks call for immediate response--endless demands pressure every waking hour.  A person's home is no longer a castle, a private place away from urgent tasks. The mobile phone breaches its walls with incessant demands. The appeal of these demands seems irresistible, and they devour our energy. But in the light of eternity their momentary prominence fades. With a sense of loss we recall the important tasks that have been shunted aside. We realize that we've become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.”

It seems that important things can always be put off till tomorrow. When you look at Jesus in this passage in Luke and the His life in the Gospels, He was always busy. Over His years of ministry, He was going and going and going and going and coming and going and dealing with issues and problems. He had disciples that weren't always getting along with each other. Jesus was busy, but I want you to notice He was never in a hurry. He had one thing to do, and that was to do the will of his Father.

Remember when Jesus was 12 years old that He said to His parents, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father's business.” My friend, that's what we need to be thinking about as we get ready for 2025. The urgent things will never quit demanding our attention! But by God’s grace we can determine to discipline ourselves to do the important things so that we are living for God and for eternity.

So, why not start today to plan on reading your Bible praying and living for the Lord every day like you should. Yes, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Start today and tomorrow have a plan to read through your Bible in 2025. We have a schedule that is posted on our website. There is a calendar for each month that continues through the year, so you'll read through the entire Bible faithfully and consistently and you'll let every word of God abide in you, so that you'll bear fruit as you abide in Him for His glory.

Did you notice that here in Luke 9:1, the first thing Jesus did was to “call His disciples together”. Plan on coming together with other believers in church, in small group Bible studies, and in accountability groups, “to exhort and encourage one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:25). Do not come to the end of another year or your life and find out that you were so busy you never really accomplished the important things.

Our God is a great God of “new beginnings”! Today, this last day of an old year, is still the first day of the rest of your life. Be encouraged to do what is important in following Jesus every day!

I will close this year with James 4:7-8, which tells us: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

God bless!