Happy New Year!  I hope all of you are safe, well, and happy on this first day of the new year.  Tom and I are in Missouri, and because we are supposed to have icy rain for the next 24 hours, we decided to stay put and watch the Rose Parade and football games.  We allowed plenty of time to get to California, so we can travel when the weather is good.

 

 

Charles Spurgeon was a British preacher in the 1800’s, and is thought to be one of the greatest preachers of all time.  His nickname was “The Prince of Preachers.”  His sermons are good reading – really! – and he also wrote lots of books.  One of them, “All of Grace” contains one of my favorite quotes and it seems especially appropriate for New Year’s Day:  “Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.”

Begin as you mean to go on.  Some of us make resolutions for the New Year.  We are enthusiastic in making them and intend to keep them.  Very few of them are still in effect at the beginning of February.  If resolutions were easy to keep, we would already be doing them!  So begin today as you mean to go on.  Treat each person you meet in the very best way you can.  Eat in ways that are healthy.  Give your body a chance to move.  Take time to pray and read something that inspires you.  Do it today – and don’t worry about tomorrow.  When tomorrow is today, you can try it again.

Go on as you began.  We start out with such enthusiasm for a task or a lifestyle.  We are eager to grow up, get a job, own a house, get married, have children.  Then the day to day living wears out down and wears us out.  Recall that first enthusiasm.  Why did you fall in love with your spouse?  What is your favorite thing about you children?  Name your blessings and see how God is touching your life.

Let the Lord be all in all to you.  God first – and then everything else will fall into place.  When we honor God as the most important thing in our lives, we remember how we are loved and can share that love with others.  When we look to God for direction and meaning, we can live out his purpose in our lives.  We are blessed, and joyous, and filled with his love.

I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s day – the first day to a wonderful year.  Tom and I have only made one resolution:  to travel more (I believe in making resolutions I can keep).  Thank you for sharing in those travels as you read the blog and for being my friends.  We are blessed by one another and by God.