A New Year

I’m sitting in motel lobby watching people exit the elevators in all kinds of garb; all sizes, colors and shapes; and of all ages.  They have all lain their heads on a pillow for a spell to rise to prepare for the day they have envisioned to meet their needs or what is expected of them.  Every single one is made in the image of God, with the breath of God, living under the grace and mercy of God, with a conscience that warns and condemns, AND facing death.

The day they are beginning is one step closer to the end – the end of their adventure on this globe.  How many are ready for the next “day” – the life after death?  Most, I’m afraid most, have either denied the reality of life all around them (creation screams GOD!) or they have embraced some idea of God that is of their own making.  One recently told me of a meaningful conversation they had with a non-believer who rejected faith in Jesus if the trinity could not be explained.  So, they have determined the parameters for their eternal destiny.  May they come to true faith before they breathe their last.

So this day in the lives of all entering the lobby is not mundane for all live under the grace, gaze and glory of the Jesus of Bethlehem.  People do so everyday!  Thus, no day is ordinary and no day is insignificant!

We are in the midst of the “holidays” – should be “holy” days for Christmas is surely about the Holy among us.  And, the New Year’s Day “holiday” is also about the Holy One who set the world in motion, keeps it so, and has declared the seasons and thus the year.  We have a new year because of God’s idea, will, creation, control and glory.  New Year’s Day should be a time of holy contemplation.

Rather, we are distracted.  How easy it is to be consumed by the immediate, the visual, or the safe.  How often we allow the “self” – the desire for pleasure, worldly success, and self-promotion – to rule our thinking and thus our decisions.

But what is important? Is it not God who is eternal?  Is it not the eternal regions that lie ahead – the new earth and Hell?  Is it not people who are eternal for they live because of His breath?  Is it not the Bible which is eternal?  What is important?  The eternal!

So, as we face this coming year, may we spend some serious time thinking about our values and priorities.  May we be much more about what really matters – the eternal!