False Start

Jeremiah 1:1-10
January 1, 2006

Nothing like a new year to make one feel old…errr, older. Suppose that I told you that the new year didn’t really begin on January 1st but that it started last June. Sure, you’d tell me to get my calendar fixed.

I might agree, and then tell you that 2006 didn’t really begin last June. It always was. It didn’t begin today or last summer, or 100 summers ago. It has always existed. At that point, you would accuse me of watching “The Twilight Zone” reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Nope. Just reading the Bible.

You see, nothing will occur this year that God has not already seen. Much of it He will have planned, all of it will be allowed, and none of it will come as a surprise to Him. He has seen every casualty of every war, every child’s science project in every school, and every home run to be hit in every ballpark. Even Little League.

Bringing it from a global to a personal level, God told Jeremiah in verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” He knew him before He had created him? That kind of turns back the clock on even us pro-lifers, doesn’t it? Maybe life begins before conception. In God’s mind it seems to.

And so it is with us. God knows what His plan is for each of us. Some of us will try to discover that plan and fulfill it. Some will wander along blissfully (or otherwise) unaware of any kind of plan. Others will seem to try to actively frustrate any kind of divine plan, real or perceived, that may be suspected.

Regardless of our chosen response, God cares enough about each of our individual lives to have planned the challenges, hardships, blessings, and joys that are Personally designed to conform us to the image of Christ and accomplish great things for Him that another person may not be able to do. We’re all limited-edition, Designer models!

How better to begin a new year than to seek to discover and do God’s will for our life!