January 1
"Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established." -Proverbs 16:3 (RSV)
The beginning of a New Year is a magic time much like the beautiful landscape after a new fallen snow. It offers a pristine open space for dreaming about unlimited possibilities. It is also a time when plans for the year ahead can jump into our minds with both enthusiasm and apprehension. January is an awesome month offering fresh adventure and opportunities for many different possibilities including winter trips, skiing, curling up with a good book, or just chilling out and resting from the Christmas season. January is a power packed month whose name came from the Latin word for door (ianua), since January is the door to the year and an opening to new beginnings. This month in ancient times honored the Roman god Janus, the "god of beginnings". Today we honor Jesus who existed in the beginning rather than Janus. Holidays include New Year's Day and Epiphany on January 6th celebrating the visit of the Wise Men to honor Christ. There is much we would like to do in January and the New Year ahead but may feel we don't have the personal resources or energies to achieve it all. However, the author of our scripture from Proverbs seems to know the secret to success in achieving any future plan when he says, "Commit your work to the Lord". Yet what does the word "Commit" actually mean in the original Hebrew? Basically it is an act of trust where we "let the Lord carry the burden". It is only in this way our future plans in the new fresh year ahead can truly succeed.
Yet there are also ways we can refuse to commit our planning to God. We may offer our complex blueprints for our future success temporarily to God, only to take them back and be filled with worry when the unexpected happens. In order for our goals to succeed, we need to maintain a fine balance by working our plans as if everything depends on us and trusting God as if everything depended on the Lord. God wants you to succeed! Trust him.
Prayer: Lord, remove my fears and worries as I commit my future plans to you in this New Year. Remove anxieties and fill me with your peace and joy as I look forward to a time of new beginnings and opportunities in the year ahead. Amen
Meditation For The Day: Do your best and God will do the rest.
Brief Devotions For Busy Lives: Daily Winter Renewal Paperback – November 25, 2017, by Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson (Author)
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