Weekly Greeting - December 27, 2024
Greetings friends,
We will soon all be handed a special gift: a “brand, spanking-new” New Year. Each year we have an opportunity to start over and try new things.
Most of us enjoy new things. Who doesn’t like that “new car” smell or the smell of a brand new pair of shoes, just out of the box?
So, with an excitement that arises from the prospect of a New Year, many of us resolve to make each New Year different from all the others.
The only problem is the “newness” quickly wears off and our resolutions become mere chores. Maybe that is why I haven’t made any resolutions in recent years.
What if instead of focusing on resolutions and doing new things or doing things in a new way we would give some thought to identifying “provisions” we will need for the journey of the new year ahead of us?
What are the things that most helped you make it through this past year? For me, the love of my family, time spent in prayer and in worship and with friends have been my most important provisions. I have also been encouraged and guided by reading Scripture and devotional writings; taking walks in the woods and listening to and playing music.
In Mark 6:8-9 as Jesus sent his disciples out on their journeys, he encouraged them to travel light. I don’t think his concern was to convince them that material things are bad, but to remember that our most precious provisions are the relationships we have with God and with one another.
I hope that this New Year we will all learn to value those provisions that will most enable us to live as God’s joyful and faithful people.
Happy New Year!
Craig __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________