January 1

There is an old saying, “All is well that ends well,” and although that is true to a degree, the reality is that it is the things that begin well that hold the most promise of success. We all know of young people, for example, who were lost in vain pursuits until almost middle age before they chose a good career path. Though they may achieve great success, it is usually the one who began at a much earlier point who arrives at the pinnacle of success in any field.

Though we rejoice that God’s Word is true when it says, “My foot was slipping but Your mercy and loving kindness, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18), we are even more greatly blessed by the fact that if we will allow Him, He will keep our foot from slipping from our youth.

Far more important than any worldly success is the spiritual success the Lord desires that we have. He would have us to seek after Him from an early age and to devote our lives to Him and to the furtherance of His Kingdom. Yet, if we do not make that a priority during our tender years, He does not abandon us to the foolish choices of our youth. He will take us up, He will embrace us to Himself, He will set our feet on the solid rock of faith in Jesus any time we surrender our lives to Him.

No matter where we may have begun our life’s journey, each day is a new opportunity to go forward with the Lord. His Word assures us that His mercies are fresh each day. No matter how many yesterdays we have undone by our failures and foibles, each morning gives us the chance to do it right today. May we begin where we are to start right with Jesus, for where He enters the picture, the picture becomes bright with hope and promise for a new dawn of hope and faith and fulfillment.

January 2

Have you ever cried all night? Most people have had those long, sleepless nights when some troubling eventuality has prevented sleep and dispelled hope. This is the perfect scenario for what is described in Psalm 6:6,8. It says, “I am weary with my groaning. All night I water my pillow with tears…the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.”

The circumstances that brought the psalmist to his point of despair may not be relevant to your current situation but the hope he receives in the midst of it is. It doesn’t matter if you are broken because of the economic turndown, or if you have lost your job, or if your health is suffering or if your relationships are broken. Indeed, all that matters when you are in the pit of despair is that the Lord hears.

He hears because He cares about every aspect of your life. No matter the nature of your distress, He “careth for you.” I Peter 5:7 assures us of the fact that the Lord’s heart feels your pain. Because He cares, you may rest in the assurance that He will bring to pass the solution to your unfortunate circumstances.

He assures that He will not leave His people without comfort. He will involve Himself in their lives to the extent that they will allow Him and He will remedy the problems that cause them to weep in the night. Because your God loves you, He will perform mighty things in your behalf. Can you trust Him to do as He says He’ll do in His immutable Word?

January 3

We yearn for blessings. We pursue blessings. And much of our yearning and pursuit is after the things of earth that cannot satisfy. We consume ourselves with a lust for things that leave us feeling just as empty when we have attained them as we were before we had them. Sometimes, it was only the joy of the chase that delighted us.

We empty ourselves of time and energy in order to fill ourselves with the possessions, the achievements, the “rewards” that the earth fancies to be of value only to discover they are not the beat-all-end-all we thought they would be. The old saying is that the man who “dies with the most toys wins,” when in reality it is the man who dies with the most toys who is most disillusioned. Toys cannot and will never be able to fill the void within each of us that hungers to be satisfied.

So what does satisfy? The answer to that question and the end of our search lies within the Word of God. He who has fashioned us knows exactly what we need to find fulfillment in life. He has programmed us to function best and to enjoy life most fully when we follow His instruction manual. The Bible is God’s guide to life’s fullest realization of everything that makes a person whole, well, blessed, satisfied.

And the Bible says, “Blessed is the man who walks not after the counsel of the ungodly, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law does he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1,2) The man who is truly happy is the man who delights himself in doing the will of God, in being the person the Lord has fashioned him to be. The vain pursuits of earth disappoint. The eternal truth of the Living Word of God gives great and eternal delight.