January 1 is the traditional day on which Father Time is reborn. The grizzled old man with walking cane and bent back becomes young again, a baby filled with renewed life.
New Year’s Day is a time of refreshing, a day when we can forget the old things and look toward a new future.
Isaiah 43:19 tells us this is exactly what God wants for us. All through the chapter, God extends his hand of promise to his people. Yet, in Verse 19, he goes further. He not only promises his blessings, but he cries, Behold!
What does the word “behold” mean to us? God is saying, Watch this. Amazing things are going to happen. You won’t believe your eyes. A new thing is going to spring forth, something so unexpected that you will be taken aback with incredulity.
What amazing thing has God promised? He has promised he will do the impossible. He even gives us two examples:
Example #1 – When we are lost and cannot find our way, he will open a path for our feet. When the brambles of life threaten to choke us, he will cause them to move aside, assuring us safe passage.
Example #2 – When our spirits are drained and dry, he will flood us with his blessings. When we taste the dust of desolation, he will be the river gushing forth with fresh water to supply our needs.
God is our eternal source of refreshing; he wipes away the old things; and he places a new future before us, one that is cleansed of old hurts and heartaches.
God cries, Behold! And in that moment, all our hurts are wiped away.
When God promises to make us new, there is nothing of the old man that will ever be found.
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Rewind Wednesday: Originally Published January 11, 2014 in Hope