[ad_1]
It’s the end of the year and the beginning of another. In 1998 he has a song called “Closing Time” recorded by a group called Semisonic. The song has lines attributed to the 4th-century Stoic philosopher Seneca. “Every new beginning comes from the end of another beginning”. 2022 is over. And tomorrow, January 1, 2023, is the New Year. You’ll see a “Best of 2022” list that includes movies, songs, events, or anything else you can list. And here’s a list of wishes, solutions, and more on what we can do in 2023.
Our God is a God of hope. But our God also leaves the past in His hands. God is the God of history and also the God of our future. As 2022 draws to a close, we are reminded of how hopeful most of us were when it began. As 2021 drew to a close, we hoped that covid-19 would pass. And in many ways, 2022 has provided opportunities for greater social interaction and health potential that 2020 and 2021 didn’t have. But covid isn’t over, and it won’t be over until the end of 2023. Every new beginning is born from the end of another beginning. And with every New Beginning comes remnants from the previous New Beginning ending, carrying over the fragments of 2022 into 2023.
Bring your 2022 “best” and confess how you fell short of God’s goodwill for us. How we repeat past sins in 2023, let us rely on God to cleanse us and move us to new commitments so that God’s hopes for us will be more fully realized. In every moment of your life, God offers a new beginning. That new beginning comes from the end of another beginning. Our new beginnings don’t come out of nowhere. It happens as a result of previous actions. Every moment has a whole new world of possibilities. And the new year brings with it countless new moments.
For those of us who follow Jesus Christ, Christ is our model and our goal. The Old and New Testaments guide, direct, and advise. Prayer is how we reach out to God through the power of His Holy Spirit, and how God communicates with us. Christ’s church, though imperfect, is where we find brothers and sisters in Christ who serve with us and discern God’s ways for us. The Church of Christ has changed over the centuries since the resurrection of Jesus Christ.Just as the end of 2022 marks the end of the beginning of the previous year, the new year will mark the passing of the Holy Spirit of God through the Church. It will be a new beginning for moving.
May the hope of God fill your hearts as this new year draws near. And may this new beginning bring only the best beginnings of the past year and provide new opportunities for the good in your life.
Reverend Leslie Smith Belden is a minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and official scribe of the Arkansas Presbyterian Order.contact her [email protected]
[ad_2]
Source link
