Have you started over? Was there a time of new beginning for you? How did you feel about that new beginning? Is there a new beginning in your future? Is it one you are looking forward to? Have you begun anew with God? Are you continuing in that new beginning?
We have new beginnings from time-to-time. We have our first day of high school or college. Our wedding day is a new beginning. We start a new job. We may experience our first airplane ride. We may experience our first trip to a foreign country.
Firsts or new beginnings happen. But how do those change us? I can remember my first airplane ride. I was a senior in high school. I wanted a window seat so I could look out. I was filled in awe. I had seen airplanes and understand a small bit about how they fly. My first experience exceeded what I had envisioned. Many, many years later and many, many plane rides later, I am no longer as in awe as I once was. Yet, I still like looking out the window and seeing the earth pass below me.
God told Moses and the Israelites a new day was dawning. They were about to be freed from slavery in Egypt. Their entire calendar was going to be based on the freedom God was giving them. How amazing is that?! The way they would mark time from that day forward would be based on God’s actions in their lives.
What if we marked time that way? Perhaps from the day we were baptized. Perhaps from the day we professed Christ as our Savior with our own lips. That day and the counting of time from day until the present could be a new calendar for us. Yet, the real question is this, did we change our outlook on life because of that day? The Israelites did…initially. Then they started grumbling. Perhaps it would be the same for us. We are initially overjoyed on the day we accepted Christ, but it isn’t long before we start grumbling. It still doesn’t change the fact that God acted in our lives, just as he did for the Israelites. He set us free.
I pray we all remember accepting Christ into our lives. I pray we remember how overjoyed we were on that day. I pray each one of us will commit to doing less grumbling and being more thankful for God acting in our lives. Remember accepting Christ. Remember the joy. Be thankful. God has set you free.
Exodus 12:2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
Marty Pressey 