A fresh start! What a great thought. The longer we live, the more we value this blessing.
At the start of a New Year we have the sense of beginning again. We want to do it right, or at least – better! But, our experience is usually not so. We continue in the same way, doing the same things expecting a different result. This is a form of insanity, a misconception of reality. If you could change yourself, you would have done so already!
The prophet Isaiah reveals a foundational and humble reality;
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”
Only a life yielded to the hand of the potter, to His mind and mold, will be truly changed, really improved. A prayer is noted in the classic devotional, “A Cloud of Unknowing,” that powerfully states our need.
“God, unto Whom all hearts be open . . . and unto Whom no secret thing is hid, I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. Amen.”
This is the heart attitude that will allow change to be made in our lives. The Psalmist (139th) also wrote this powerful prayer of yielding,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
Now here is the fresh start that is needed!
