2021 Time to Begin Again

Your beginning now matter how glorious or how bad it seems is just that—a beginning. It does not define you.

I can’t help but think of my own beginning and my parents beginnings as we start the beginning of this new year. My mom grew up in a chicken coop on an uncle's farm in West Virginia with her sister and mom. They were “food insecure” which is the way that polite wealthy people like to describe not having enough to eat. It was a humble hard beginning but I like to think it was a good beginning that helped shape her into the strong God fearing woman she is and she in turn helped shape me.

But Beginnings are funny things. So much focus and worry is put into getting things off to a good beginning. I suppose that makes sense enough. It is easier to keep things going in the right direction after a good beginning then it is to fix something that got started off poorly. That is why early childhood intervention is soo important and every doctor talks to you about diet and exercise instead of just waiting for you to need a statin.

Your beginning didn't even start with you or with your momma and your daddy. Your momma and your daddy’s beginnings didn’t start with their momma’s and daddy’s either.

Your beginning started with God who knew you since before you were born and knitted you together in your mother's womb. Your beginning began in the beginning.

In the beginning when God created the heavens and earth and all things visible and invisible you had your beginning. On that the first day the Lord God thought of you, just as you are, and begun the work of creating you.

When God saw the fruit of his creating he looked down upon it and behold it was very good. All of creation from Adam and Eve to the birds and bees was created very good. You were created very good with a very good beginning born out of the love God had for you since before you were.

But we all sort of messed up such a good beginning. Adam and Eve of started us down the wrong path as a species when they walked away from friendship with God. Each of us has done our own bit of walking away from friendship with God. But Adam’s and Eve's mistakes and your mistakes are still just the beginning. A beginning is just that- a beginning. It does not define you or how your story has to end.

Jesus comes and lived and died and rose again and went back to heaven again and is coming again so that whatever mistakes you have made you can begin again. No matter what you can begin again with friendship with God. Jesus comes so that we can all begin again and not make the same mistakes. Jesus comes and if we mess up that new beginning is ready to begin again with you yet again.

That is the Good News of the Gospel Jesus has come and this is the beginning again. But even that is just the beginning. Jesus just keeps on coming after you so that you can always begin again to work on that friendship with him.

But your beginning whether ideal and what society would call a “good beginning” or something else entirely is just that a beginning. While every story has a beginning that beginning never gets to decide howthat story will end.