As we stand before the portal of a new year, we don’t know what it’s going to bring, and I’m glad for that. I’m glad we can’t pull aside the curtain of time and see what the future has in store.
But there is one thing we do know, and that is we can leave the past behind, with all of its worries and cares, pains and heartaches, mistakes and blunders. Isn’t that wonderful?! All of that is forever in the past, beyond our recall. We can’t undo one single act or unsay a single careless word, but we can make a fresh start this year.
If you’ve received Jesus as your Savior, you don’t have to bear the burden of guilt or regret. All of the mistakes, regrets, and sorrows of the past year are in God’s hands, covered by His love.
God can give you this year “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3 NIV). He can bring honey out of the rock and sweet waters out of the bitter desert of the past, no matter what it was (Deuteronomy 32:13; Isaiah 41:18). This is all promised to you in His Word, if you are His child.
Many people say they believe in God’s mercy and forgiveness, yet they worry about the stains on the pages of their past. They never fully rejoice in the fact that God has blotted them out (Isaiah 43:25). Who wants to live in the past when the future holds such wonderful promises? “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14 NKJV).
Regardless of your past, Jesus can make your future so bright that you’ll want it to never end—and it won’t! Jesus has promised eternal life and everlasting joy in heaven for all who believe in Him. If you haven’t yet received Jesus as your Savior, you can right now by sincerely praying the following:
Dear Jesus, I want to know You. Thank You for giving Your life for me. Please forgive me for all the wrongs I have done. I now open the door of my heart and I ask You to come in. Give me Your gift of eternal life and fill me with Your love and Holy Spirit. Amen.