Hebrews 2:8-12
Most people look forward to the new year because it presents (at least psychologically) the opportunity for a new beginning. The new year is a time for a fresh start ... a second chance ... a clean slate. Now, more than ever, in light of the events of 2020, the world is looking for a clean slate and a fresh start. But what if 2021 isn't a fresh start? What if 2021 is even WORSE than 2020? Then what?
At the start of 2020, Pastor Duttry announced our theme for the year: Continue in the Word. In essence, his message was this. Our church and our families have been faithful in God's Word thus far - both to obey it and to distribute it. But we must continue in that faithfulness to God's Word.
Many of you, like my family, committed to read through the New Testament together. It has been a joy to hear the testimonies from others. But I have also enjoyed the discussions that came from this in our own home as our kids, each at their own level, asked questions about our reading. Along the way, it was also a tremendous blessing to see how God orchestrated the chapters we needed most at just the right time.
"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold." (Proverbs 3:13-14)
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her, "... thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, ..." (Luke 1:31) she was understandably perplexed. She knew it was absolutely, biologically impossible to be pregnant. Although Mary and Joseph were engaged, she was a virgin. The angel explained that the Holy Ghost would cause it to happen and that her child would be the Son of God.
How trustworthy is the sun? Will it rise tomorrow? Will we see the light of the next day? Will noon come a week from now? Can we set our clocks according to it? Well, yes ... and that is exactly what we do. Because the sun and cycles of the earth around it are never changing, we use this trustworthy source of time to measure our hours, our days, our years, etc. I was reminded of how precisely our planet is positioned and fashioned to sustain life in a children's devotional book we are doing with our son. This led me to this thought: If God has done all of this for us, then why should we not trust Him more in our daily lives?
