Father, how thankful I am for another year. Every year seems like a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean slate. I know that it does not work exactly like that, but I’m still very glad to be able to feel like I’m beginning again. It is hard, Lord, not to make resolutions. This year I want to be more committed to your word, to seeking your face, to enjoying your presence in my life. I want to draw near to you with greater reverence as well as greater frequency. I want to glorify you more and honor you more deeply.
It begins with praise. Heavenly Father, I praise you as the Creator of heaven and earth. You made everything out of nothing. Those words stun me. Love made the world. You are a good God; you must be a good God to create a world filled with this kind of beauty, with this kind of majesty. I see you in everything you made—in the water that flows down the falls, the leaf that crinkles under my feet, the sun that glares over my head, the wind that blows through my hair. Your creation is beautiful.
And who am I that you would make me? The pinnacle of your creation is humanity, O Father, thank you for making us. And not just for making us, but for making us in your own image and likeness. To think that the stamp of the Triune God is in my DNA is too much to comprehend and almost too much to accept. Let me never forget your glory is at the heart of every single human.
But more than anything, this morning I want to praise you for my redemption. You have called me, like Ruth, to leave comfort and home and familiarity and to follow you. You have given me a new heart and a new life. Because the sinless Savior died for me, I have been charged to live for him, and I have been equipped to live for him by the indwelling presence of your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, for adopting me into your family through the work of your Son. I am more grateful to you than words can ever tell.
The clock never stops, Father. Help me to make good use of the days you have given me. Let me serve my family with joy, my church with love, and my friends with kindness. Let me lay aside ambition and pride and selfishness and pick up humility, and peace, and self-control. Thank you for being worthy of all the attention and affection that I can muster, and help me give it all to you this coming year.
Amen.
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