Happy New Year! Are you hopeful as we enter 2025? Maybe last year was a year of highlights or possibly a year of lowlights. Just because the calendar turns to a new year doesn’t mean we leave behind the challenging circumstances of the old year. Many of us carry burdens into the new year. The new year presents us with a fresh perspective built on the only truth to bring about change. The word of God! In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon wrote these words thousands of years ago. Each segment of Proverbs 3:5-12 offers a simple plan for the new year.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Open yourself up to God. We were created to be in a relationship with Him! A relationship of dependence in every corner of my life. This type of dependent living results in confidence in my decisions as I journey through life. Lean into God’s guidance in the complicated and the mundane. Its all about the depth of the relationship.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
Be humble and willing to learn from others. How we see God directly impacts how we see ourselves. Humility before God and others keeps me from sin and is healthy for my mind and body. Jesus was humble, yet he submitted himself to His Father’s will. Jesus was in constant communication with His Father. A necessary part of a humble relationship is to be better listener than talker. If you want to learn be slow to speak.
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
Be generous with God, and He will be generous with you. God is generous with everyone through his grace and mercy. Solomon speaks here about the material realm and tells us to honor the Lord by generously turning back to him the first results of our harvest. The promise from God is that He will bless even more. Yes, God loves to give us more when we honor him. Solomon is talking about the biblical concept of stewardship. When Jesus taught the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 he taught us that to those who handle well what they are given they will be trusted with more".
“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
Receive God’s correction because he loves you. Discipline is training, and God’s training includes positive and negative experiences. God’s discipline is not punishment. His discipline is the process of redeeming our failures into his glory. Only God can do that and we only experience it by not taking his discipline lightly. A loving father will want his children to grow, learn, and change, especially from their mistakes. The result of God’s discipline is holiness and maturity in his children.
Al Rossi
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