A new year to enjoy...

As I get older, I find the wisdom of parents and grandparents all the more applicable to my days and I agree with them on so many fronts, especially when they have informed me that "each passing year only goes faster than the one before it." I don't know if it's the fact that now as a man, rather than the days of childhood, I spend 200+ days a year at work or it's just some simple fact of life that as you grow older you inevitable take on more activity and responsibilities and thus in your busyness, you quickly consume your days, but whatever the cause, the result I must agree with - life goes pretty fast. That God spoke to Job in the whirlwind is a great comfort to me because I often feel like I'm in one myself. Whatever the reason or rhyme, I too must agree with the notion that the days just seem to go faster and faster the older I get. Maybe it's just because time flies when you are having fun :)

As I enter a new year, I have high hopes - lots of small goals to set after as well as big ones. I was reading in a Slice of Infinity article from Ravi Zacharias Ministries this week and was reminded that best of all for 2012 is the hope that God will give His abiding presence in 2012. More than anything that I'm seeking to go after is the underlying prayer that God will go with me - for truly what could I accomplish without Him? G.K. Chesterton once said, "The object of the new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul." Point well taken - a new year is no better than the old year if we don't become anything different in the new year than we were in the last. It is with hope of becoming new that I set out on the journey of 2012. More than merely doing good... I long to be good - to be transformed in some many areas of my heart to become more like Christ... to shed more of the old man and to put on more of the new man. Thank the Lord for the opportunity to change. It reminds me of a great poem  that I once heard Ravi Zacharias share on one of his podcasts:

He came to my desk with a quivering lip, the lesson was done. “Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher? I’ve spoiled this one.” I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted, And gave him a new one all unspotted. And into his tired heart I cried, “Do better now, my child.”


I went to the throne with a trembling heart, the day was done. “Have you a new day for me, dear Master? I’ve spoiled this one.” He took my day, all soiled and blotted, and gave me a new one all unspotted. And into my tired heart he cried, “Do better now, my child.”


To all who read this, I wish you a very blessed year in 2012... may the Lord show you all the more just how wide and how high and how deep is His love for each one of you and may you all grow more into His likeness with each passing day. As one of favorite quotes states, "No one can make a brand new start, but anyone can start today and make a brand new end."  His mercies are new every morning - great is His faithfulness. So, as we use to sing as children, "Rise and shine and give God the glory glory" May the Lord be with you all in 2012.
   - WP

A New Year’s Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous


Dear Lord, please give me…


A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;


A work to do which has real value,


without which the world would be the poorer;


A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;


An understanding heart;


A sense of humor;


Time for quiet, silent meditation;


A feeling of the presence of God;


The patience to wait for the coming of these things,


With the wisdom to recognize them when they come. Amen.