Good morning on this first Saturday of 2010. Happy New Year! In studying how they celebrated the new year in Old Testament times, I discovered a series of steps the Old Testament saints followed to get their new year off to a Godly and productive start. First they searched their hearts for things which were dishonoring to God in their lives, confessed them, and placed them before God for His cleansing and forgiveness. As part of the process, they committed themselves to forsake these wayward ways. Next, they examined their interpersonal relationships to see if they have wronged anyone and damaged a relationship by their attitudes and actions. If so they went to that person, asked forgiveness for their offense, and attempted to reconcile with them and restore the relationship. Finally, they reviewed God's blessings on their life during the previous year and spent time praising and thanking God for those many blessings. They therefore healed their relationship with the Lord and others and saw to it that there was nothing between them and the Lord or any other person which was unforgiven or would hinder their spiritual life in the coming year. Why not follow these steps as a personal spiritual prescription for 2010?
It will surely help each of us to start the new year right. Tomorrow's sermon is again from the book of Proverbs and is entitled, Profiting From Conflict. I hope I'll see you there.
Mel Brown