by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

 

How did you usher in the New Year? Staying up all night, playing with your kids, eating Chinese, going to a party at some friends’ house, quarantining because of sickness, or going to bed before midnight? For hundreds of couples in Las Vegas, Nevada, they decided to get hitched on a date they won’t forget for future anniversaries—12/31/23 . . . 1-2-3  1-2-3, a date that won’t happen for another hundred years, if the Second Coming of Jesus doesn’t occur before then! For the record, 7/7/07 stands as the most popular wedding date in Las Vegas history as 4,492 couples tied the knot on that “lucky day.” This year, Las Vegas’ home county even arranged for a marriage license pop-up at the airport so couples could register and get their paperwork right after they got off the plane.

 

In Denmark on New Year’s Eve, popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, made a surprise announcement on live TV during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech, which is viewed by many in the country of 5.9 million folks. The 83-year-old queen, who ascended the throne in 1972, will abdicate her throne in a few weeks after reigning for 52 years. She will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik. She remarked, “Now is the right time.”

 

The Right Time

You may not have gotten married, or abdicated your throne, but perhaps you sat down and scribbled out some goals for this coming year. Or maybe, like my daughters, you enumerated how many books and how many pages you read this past year, and planned out your reading schedule for 2024. Many of my friends shared their aspirations on social media.

 

One book I highly recommend reading every day is a worldwide bestseller—the Bible. Have you ever set out to accomplish reading through your Bible in a year? The #1 podcast in the world January 1 was The Bible Recap. That’s because many people have a goal of reading through the Bible in a year. Some folks flame out somewhere in Leviticus or Deuteronomy, but others stay with it for the entire year. The Bible Recap’s mission is simple: “We offer tools that equip millions around the world to read, understand, and love the Bible, which helps them encounter God in a way that transforms their entire lives.” In addition to allowing you to invite friends to read along in the Bible with you this year, they also offer short daily recaps of God’s Word—explaining the challenging parts and connecting the dots for you. Interested? Check out https://www.thebiblerecap.com.

 

At Christ’s Church, as we launch into a new year, our senior minister Brad Wilson will be preaching a series in the month of January simply called “Blueprint.” Each weekend Brad will be talking about four indispensables for our spiritual journey this year: Prayer, the Bible, community, and Jesus! My prayer is that you won’t miss any one of these important weeks as we strive to set a spiritual tone for 2024.

 

A New Day

Every year I buy my week-at-a-glance National Park Foundation calendar for the New Year. I love turning the page each week to see which National Park, National Landmark, or historic site is featured for that particular week. The color picture and the text briefly describe some details concerning a National Park, monument, or a site my wife and I have already visited, one that we hope to, or one that I’m fine with never visiting. Each year as I put away the previous year’s calendar at the end of December, I reflect on that calendar year. What were some highlights from the past year? Wonderful memories that we got to celebrate and enjoy? Some particular moments that we’re glad are behind us? Did you get a chance to do some reflecting this past week like I did? I hope so. And, along with that, did you look forward to some things on the horizon for this upcoming year?

 

As I pull out my brand-new calendar for 2024, I think about the events I can’t wait for this year. I also wonder what surprises may come my way. What kinds of things may happen that we didn’t plan for? In God’s foreknowledge, he already knows what this year will bring my way—for good and for bad. It’s all in his hands. Each Sunday night I love turning the page in my National Park calendar to see what lies before me for the next week. And, then I voice a prayer to God asking him to go before me in the coming week. What will he prepare me for? What divine disruptions will interrupt my path? I’m convinced that if I seek him each week, if I actively look for his hand in my life, I will not miss the appointments he wants to bring to my attention.

 

One of my favorite CCM bands from my youth ministry days in the 80s, White Heart, recorded a song called “Turn the Page” in 1984. The lyrics are as true forty years later as they were back then. If you care to give it a listen, check it out here.

 

“The book is before you, the story’s about you;

The page is black and it’s full of troubled dreams.

An endless echo that keeps haunting you;

Every time the words come back the same.

 

It was such a hard time, your hopes were crushed,

Nothing turned out like you planned.

Now you’re a prisoner of a memory

But you can’t live that time again.

 

Don’t burn in that fire, don’t lose your desire.

Reach out with strength, turn the page.

Cry out to your Father, He’ll carry your sorrow.

He’ll give you the courage you need, turn the page.

 

A Man hung dying, bruised and bleeding,

The Holy One carried all our guilt and shame.

Now it’s all behind you ’cause He forgives you,

He forever turned that page.

 

Don’t burn in that fire, don’t lose your desire.

Reach out with strength, turn the page.

Cry out to your Father, He’ll carry your sorrow.

He’ll give you the courage you need, turn the page.”

—Lyrics by Mark Gersmehl and Billy Smiley

 

This past Monday we turned the page from one calendar year to another. Are there some sorrows or regrets from the past you need to let go of, some hopes that were crushed, some memories that keep haunting you? God does not want you to be a prisoner of those things, he wants you to be free this year! What do you need to anticipate that God will do in your life this year? Cry out to the Father as you seek him every day. I challenge you to courageously turn the page, open up his Book every day, and see what God has waiting for you around the bend.

 

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?” (Isaiah 43:18, 19, The Message).