A Joyous New Year! - January 1, 2009

Joyous New Year! We wake up to find 2009 on our doorstep and banging to get in. Last night I tried to stay up to see the New Year in, but didn't quite make it. A concert ended at 2322, and that is the latest I have stayed up for some years, ten or more anyway. I was close after getting ready for bed, but I ended the year with a few verses in John and some prayer. Laying my head in hand, propped up on my side to read, I awaited the stroke of midnight just 20 minutes away; I then woke up in exactly the same position, but the clock said 0025. So close and then missed it again. :-) Somehow the old mind and body just couldn't stay awake through midnight.

This morning it seemed good to start off a new year with the Newsboys and "Devotion"... and then to write the devotional! A good start can make for a good journey as we begin this new year. Today and tomorrow will be days of prayer and goal setting. What direction does God want me to go this year? What should I do day by day to support the building of God's kingdom on this earth?

Resolutions, goals, reflections... always a new year begins with looking forward and looking back. The changing of the calendars seems to be a good time to take stock of where we are and where we are going. I like looking at where I have been too, and I imagine many others do as well. This year a new president will take office in the United States; what will his team do for us? This year we could see Jesus' return. Whatever happens, we will probably not be in exactly the same place at the end of 2009. The year opens with many worries for all of us. Job security is out the window, retirement funds have suffered great loss, and the overall security of the world is open to question at all times. One thing is known, the Holy Trinity didn't meet in emergency session at the start of 2009. No, the plan God has for this world continues toward its successful conclusion, just as He promised through the prophets so long ago.

My vision for this new year? I will ask God about that today and listen for what He says to me.

Have a great New Year in Christ Jesus!

Bucky