The title of this webpage is God Stories and More. This is not a God Story but it's definitely More. I’d like to start with a question. Has there been any time in this last year or so when you have thought you needed a fresh start? Maybe a fresh start in a new career, a fresh start with a different project, a relationship, a diet. Maybe even a fresh start in your relationship with God. Over the last year, do any of the above things describe you? If so, I believe God would say, it’s not too late for a fresh start.
The thing about fresh starts is a fresh start is not limited to one group of people. I mean it’s not limited to adults. Kids need fresh starts. Can you say “progress reports” – “report cards”? Fresh starts are not limited to just Christians. Maybe you’re reading this and you do not profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but you do acknowledge you need a fresh start. Maybe spiritually, physically, or emotionally you feel like you’re on this treadmill where you’re moving but you’re not getting anywhere. It's possible you feel a little dry and parched and you’re desperate for something deeper and more meaningful in your life. Basically, you’re looking for some external motivation to jump-start your relationship with others or possibly with God.
If any of those examples describe you, welcome to the human race! Everyone from time to time in life looks for a fresh start. That’s why many people love the first day of the week, the first day of the month, or love January, because it just feels like a new fresh start. That’s why most of us are intrigued by anything new. We love new. Because when it’s new it just feels like now is the time, this is the place for a new beginning.
Recently when I went into our laundry room I saw a bottle of detergent. Our bottle of detergent said, Tide “New and Improved.” But I remembered it saying “new and improved” when I was a kid! How many times can it be new and improved? Eventually, you’d think they’d come out with liquid gold you poured on your clothes so you never had to wash them again, or something like that. It’s not new. It’s just new marketing. Somebody spit in it or added some color to it and then said, “Ok, it’s new!”
We experience the same with toothpaste. So many brands and choices and just about all of them say, “New” or “New Whitening Power.” They all pretty much taste the same. But so often we try something because of its “New Improved” catchy slogan. Let's face it we love new.
And you know what? Here’s the good news. God loves new too. God’s all about new. As you think about all of creation is about new birth and new life and new relationships with Him. Here’s the deal. God sees the new ahead of us. God sees what could be new for us and He wants us to experience it.
I am reminded of a passage in Isaiah 43 where God says to Isaiah, “I’ve got something new for you.” Is there any part of your life right now where you feel a need for some newness?
Isaiah 43:19 God says “For I’m about to do something new. I’ve already begun. Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness (hard and difficult places). I will create rivers (refreshing) in the dry (barren, empty, futile) wasteland.” God is saying I have something new (2 Cor. 5:17). I know the way to get there and I want to take you there. That promise to Isaiah is the same promise that God has for us right now. It's Not Too Late!
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