What's New, You?

A new year, a new month, a new week, a new day. What does it all mean? Starting over again. Starting over again in what respect? To do something new and different? To turn over a new leaf? To make some dream come true? I am not automatically motivated because the new year or the new month is beginning. In fact, I'm less motivated as years go by, because every new year I realize I am one year closer to the end of my life, and when you get to be my age you begin to wonder what lies ahead, what is there to look forward to? Sometimes it just seems like another revolution of an old wagon wheel, nothing new, just the same old same old. Christmas is over, New Year's Eve is over, the stores are already selling the Valentine candy, then it's Mardi Gras, then everything will be green for St. Patrick's Day, then the eggs and the bunnies for Easter, and everywhere we look we will see new things to buy to celebrate whatever season we're in. Oh, yes, and now there's taxes, and, for me, renew license plates. Also, for me, summer vacation will be fast approaching, just like Christmas vacation crept up on us, seemingly overnight. Every year seems to go faster and faster. So what do we look forward to every new year? The world has a lot of ideas, but they don't work for me anymore. I love having another book to read, but even the best books don't help when I'm needing something on the inside that seems to have faded or I'm just weary of the ways of the world. But there is one place I can go when I need something for that emptiness inside. It's not another movie, even if I find a good one. It's not another talk show, or newsreel, or Facebook live presentation or a podcast. I go to the Rock of my salvation. I go to the Word. I believe in God and I believe the Bible is God's word. I know that no matter what I'm facing, there will be something in the Bible that will give me hope, that will encourage me. Something there will revive me and will speak to whatever it is I need because it is filled with wisdom and insight. There is something in it that will help me, and I don't have to read a whole lot. I don't need to dig for an hour before something will speak to me. I remember when I lived in Cape Girardeau, I used to like to go down to the river, and there it was, so beautiful and serene. I don't mean when it was storming and the river was rising and everyone was watching the news and worrying. I mean when it was rolling by so peacefully and every day so glorious and never the same, a new sight to see every different time of the day. The Mighty Mississippi would come and soothe my soul, like the way the very thought of it is doing right now. Sometimes, just opening anywhere my eyes will fall on something that will be exactly what I need. It may not necessarily make sense intellectually, or I may not have a deep theological interpretation of it, but in my heart, mind, spirit, soul, something dead will come alive, something hurting will be healed. That's how I know it's God's word. God used people to write it, but it is God's word. It could not be otherwise because no other book can do that. I am not a theologian. I do not have a degree in the Bible. I have degrees in Spanish, Education and Child Development. But these subjects do not give me what the Bible gives me. I am not an expert in the Bible, but I have read it long enough to have deposited it in my spirit in such a way that I can respond to situations by remembering a certain precept or passage or story. I just know that If I am feeling empty, or bothered, bored or burnt out, I can open it to the Proverbs or the Psalms or read the books by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude, Peter and Paul or any writers of the Old Testament, start reading and something will help. Proverbs 1 is where I start on the first day of every month, and it always speaks to me. That's one more reason I believe the Bible is God's word. No other book does that. Whatever it is I need, I can always find something in the Bible to fill that void. The Bible is filled with life-giving words. It's not like any other book. It has information, yes, but it has more than information. It has food for the soul, motivation to go on. It creates faith. Faith to live by. That's what I need most. Maybe you can find something in there today. Open it anywhere, I bet you'll find something new.