Every new beginning is a time for both looking back and looking forward.
We look back. We ask, “What’s been going on in my life in recent years?” Whatever our particular circumstances, we’re all getting older! How have we grown older? Have we become colder? Have we become bolder?
We look forward. Whatever the past has been, the future can be different. We can be changed. It doesn’t need to be older and colder. It can be older and bolder.
Sadly, for many of us, the story is ‘older and colder’ – ‘most men’s love will grow cold’. Is this the story of your life? – ‘the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in – nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes’ (Matthew 24:12). Has the fire gone out? How long has it been since, in your heart, you said, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us … while He opened to us the Scriptures?’ (Luke 24:32)? Must we get colder as we get older? Can we not be raised from the ashes? Must we be overwhelmed by the spirit of evil? Cannot God restore in us the spirit of praise – ‘I will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever’ (Psalm 89:1)?
Some of you who are reading these words may be regular worshippers. Some may not have worshipped God in His House for many years. To each and every one of us, God gives the opportunity of a new beginning – Is it not time to make a new beginning with God?
Older and colder? There’s a better way than this. You can get older and bolder – bolder in worship, bolder in witness.
Let us be bold in our worship – ‘Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16). However long it has been since you worshipped the Lord in His House, dare you doubt that God is able to ‘restore your soul and lead you in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake’ (Psalm 23:3)? God is able to do this for you. Of that, there is no doubt. Are you willing to ‘let go and let God have His wonderful way’? Are you willing to begin again with God?
Let us be bold in our witness – ‘they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness’ (Acts 4:31). How can we expect to speak for God if we do not listen to Him? To those who have stopped listening to Him, God is still speaking. He calls us to listen to Him. He calls us to come to Him. This is His Word to us – ”Listen now, My people, and come to Me; come to Me, and you will have life!’ (Isaiah 55:3). We will have no ‘impact’ on our ‘world’ until God’s Word has made its impact on us. The ‘world’ will not listen to us if we are not listening to God. God has something to say to us. Are we listening? He has something to say to our world. Will we be His voice?
Some of you – regular worshippers as well those who have not attended Church for a very long time – may be saying, ‘This is very serious’. Yes! You’re right! It’s very serious! I can hardly emphasize how serious it is. Listen to what God’s Word says – ‘How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ (Hebrews 2:3). Do not dismiss this as my words! This is God’s Word! To those who persistently refuse to listen to Him, God speaks His Word of warning – ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Hebrews 10:31).
Alongside the Word of warning, there is His wonderful promise – Christ is ‘able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him’ (Hebrews 7:25). The crucified Christ holds out His loving arms to embrace all who bow before His Cross and pray for a new beginning with God. Many opportunities for a new beginning may have been missed. God has been speaking. We have not been listening. Now, there is a new opportunity. Make sure that you do not miss this opportunity for returning to the Lord. He may never come so close again. He may never again speak to you so clearly and strongly. This is your time. It is the time of your salvation – if you will return to the Lord.
‘Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have mercy on him. and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon’ (Isaiah 55:6-7).
‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1 Timothy 1:15). Don’t let your sin keep you from coming to the Saviour of sinners. Come to Him. Bring your sin to Him. Let Him come to you. Let Him bring His forgiveness to you. Let it be a new beginning – and let it start now!
