Back a few years ago when one of our older kids was in
kindergarten, the teacher had a system that monitored and tracked the students'
behavior. When they were being good, their little sticker stayed on green. When
they got a warning, the teacher moved their name to yellow. And if they broke
the rules repeatedly, she moved them to red. Nobody wanted to be on red. But
inevitably it would happen.
Yet here was the beautiful thing ... no matter how bad a kid
acted one day, no matter how many times they were warned or how many times
their teacher had to move them to yellow or red and back again, each morning
when they walked into class, their name was always back on green. What happened
the previously day didn't matter, and it had no bearing on how they would be
treated the next day. They would always get to start over each morning. This
system reminded them that every day was a fresh beginning and represented a new
opportunity to make good choices.
When I think about that story, I reminded of Lamentations
3.23, "Great is his faithfulness; HIS MERCIES BEGIN AFRESH EACH
MORNING."
Think about that ... His mercies begin afresh each morning!
As I consider the grace and compassion of a God that,
through Christ, continually offers me new mercy each morning regardless of my
failures, sin, or rebellion the previous day, I am deeply moved. The passage
promises me that each a.m. represents my opportunity to repent, submit, and
surrender my will to His own and see Him work in a powerful and
transformational way in/thru me!
So here's my encouragement, as a new year begins, as we seek
new opportunities and fresh beginnings, embrace the grace and mercy of God
offered to you uniquely through faith in Christ that moves you to green and
provides the promise of a continual new start in Him.
------------------
Landon Ressor serves as pastor of Christ Community Church,
Darien, CT. He is a happy husband and proud father. He has a passion for
reaching the world for Christ, starting in the New York metro area.
No comments:
Post a Comment