The Teacher

Sonny and Cher tried to capture the idea in their hippy way with "The Beat Goes On." The Byrds quoted it in their lyrics to "Turn, Turn, Turn!" The new year is upon us and this used to be a big deal to me in younger years, but now it simply means I have to be careful how I write the date for the next month. It used to mean new-years resolutions I would never keep. Now it means if I am not doing it already, there is nothing magical about January 1st that will make me start. It used to mean parties and the pursuit of debauchery, but now it means the pursuit of dinner, put the kids to bed and hope for a good night's sleep. It used to mean new possibilities, but now I see that any day is a new possibility and a gift from God.

We are blessed to have another year in marriage, and two wonderful kids. We are blessed to have had another year with our family. We have lost some family and gained some family. We have gained new friends. We have gained a few pounds and some gray hairs. We are blessed to know that the challenges we faced have been used by God to grow us and impact others. What does 2010 hold? The same as 2009. God will be in the midst of the circumstances that ebb and flow, change and challenge. Macayla will continue her digression. We do not know if she will see 2011 (in fact it is December 31st so 2010 is still in question), but she is full of surprises and God will be in them.

Long before Sonny & Chere or the Byrds, the Teacher captured the wisdom of ongoing time in the book of Ecclesiastes.

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted..." Ecc. 3:1-2 NASB

The ancient Teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes saw the endlessness of pleasure seeking and that there truly is nothing new under the sun. He concluded rightly that wisdom is found in the reverence of God and following His commandments. My prayer for the new year, the new day, today, is that I will seek Him and follow the path He has for us. In spite of all that "changes" and repeats itself, Christ is forever! He does not change, but we need to and I thank Him for it.