Whose Fresh Start?: New Year's Day Bonus Page
Theme of the Week: "Watch Me"?
John Olley
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
 1 of 1
Bible Verse for Bonus Day: "Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year." … So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the new year Exodus 40:2.Exodus 40:17
All the components and furnishings of the tabernacle have been made according to detailed instructions that fill up chapters in our Bibles. Now comes the command to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the new year. Still today, the New Year in many cultures is the time for a fresh start. Some express this in New Year's resolutions, but here it's God, not us, who has initiated the new beginning, as he did on the same date after the flood (Genesis 8:13). On both occasions God acted in mercy and forgiveness after human rebellion, guaranteeing a way forward.
The tabernacle materials are ready, but the go ahead is given by the Lord; the initiative remains his. Anointing both objects and priests by sprinkling them with oil highlights their dedicated function. Every part and activity shows that here is God's provision for meeting with him.
How much more is this so, now that we experience God meeting us in Christ through his Spirit? His presence in our midst is a pointer to his purposes for the whole of his creation. God's initiative in our lives brings newness, and beyond God's present provision we look for yet more wonderful changes.
Viewed in this way, New Year's Day has all the makings of a sacred holiday.
—John Olley in Encounter With God
My New Year's Day Response: I'll thank God for providing for fresh starts in my life.
Adapted from Encounter With God (a daily Bible reading guide published by Scripture Union USA, 4/27/05) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Lord, give me the resolve and stamina to become a living demonstration of godliness.
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