So It Begins

I went to bed long before midnight. I did not see the ball drop nor ring in the new year. When I awoke this morning, it is my first time to be awake in 2020. It begins. A brand new year and the start of a brand new decade.

I want to start it off writing. Writing about the beginning. To begin means to start. On this official New Year's Day, it is a fresh start. Many will still face the same old trials that carried over rom 2019. Still many will make a new start. Gym memberships will soar as people start their resolutions.. They vow this is the year that they will change. They will lose the weight, finish the education, travel more, find another job and a host of other things. Many will begin with good intentions.

The wanting is there to change at this beginning. What is lacking is discipline. One of the definitions of discipline is the practice that provides mental or physical training. For example, if a person sets a goal to read through the Bible in 2020, it will take discipline to start and finish. If a person chooses to lose weight, they will have to alter their diet, and begin a regimented workout routine. It will require self-control when delicious food is put on the table. If a person chooses to finish their education, it will take mental training to hit the books fulfilling assignments to earn the degree.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) 
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Did you notice the words self-control? It means to bring the body under submission, control and subjection. This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we begin this new year with goals, resolutions and plans to turn over a new leaf, we trust the Holy Spirit to give us the self-control to walk those things out. I looked in multiple translations for the word self-control in Gal 5:23. Everyone of them had the words self control except the King James Version which translates it as temperance.

No matter how you translate it, as the new year dawns we all need discipline, self-control, temperance at the beginning and throughout these next 365 days. Will this be the year you mature in your walk with God? Will this be the year you start memorizing scripture? Will this be the year you commit to pray more fervently and effectively? Will this be the year you spend more time in the Bible? Or when 2020 fades into 2021, will you end the year in the same old spot?

So it begins. A new year. Filled with new opportunities. A new year to give God your absolute best. [Col 3:17,23]. I wish you well at this beginning. May you progress in your faith journey. May you advance in your knowledge and understanding of God's word. May you get on the relentless pursuit of knowing God in 2020. May you finish what you start at this new beginning.