2025— ANOTHER NEW YEAR!
2025—ANOTHER NEW YEAR!
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. —Genesis 1:31
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. —Genesis 2:9
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” —Genesis 2:16
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” —Genesis 3:10-13
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. —Psalm 1:1-2
As we reflect on another year past, and all years past, there are so many good memories and there are some not so good memories as well. There are joys and sadness in those memories. Some are past, some are on-going.
What a joy it must have been for Adam and Eve to be living in a time when there was only joy, no sadness, no conflict, no death… nothing negative. In the beginning God said of His creation after the 6th day that it was “very good.
God placed man in the perfect and beautiful Garden of Eden with one command— ““You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” They disobeyed, they feared, they hid, but the Lord God sought them out. They shifted blame for their disobedience, but the consequence of their disobedience would come to pass. And so it has from that day until now and will until the end of this age— “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Death, sadness, conflict, death and anything negative can be traced back to that one act of disobedience. And don’t say if you were there you would not have done that because you and I have also failed and sinned.
Let us not shift blame for our disobedience. Instead, let us be “one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Yes, in this New Year of 2025, let us read and heed God’s Word and not be swayed by the world’s way of thinking. Yes, Dear Father, may this be so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Dear Son Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLDEt9KP2O0&list=RDBLDEt9KP2O0&start_radio=1
May our Lord God Almighty bless your New Year in ways you could never imagine!