It's Time for another New Year!

Are you ready for it?

"New Year" implies something typically very hard for us to handle– not something that comes naturally or that we jump up and down about. It implies "transition". Transitions bring with them something at times very hard to accept. We never know how it is going to come. Many times they catch us off-guard. They at times arrive like a unexpected package on our doorstep left by UPS.

Transition is defined as– a passing from 1 place, activity, topic, or thing to another. It is built into the very fabric of life by God:
Time: Every 12 hours
Every 24 hours
Every 7 days
Every 30 days
Every 90 days– seasons
Every 365 days– year
Humanity: birth/child/teen/young adult/adult/senior adult
Parent: no children/young child/toddler/adolescence/teen/young adult/gone
Marriage: single/married/children/empty nest/grandkids/
Job or School
Bible: has a major transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament
Salvation: preconversion/conviction/conversion/growth/glory
Every Biblical Character God used in a mighty way experienced Transition in their life.

– Let’s look at Moses, Exodus 3


Transitions are built into the very fabric of life, and always demand a response. God allows or brings transition into our life to nudge us up the Chrislikeness scale. But we if we understand and respond to it correctly, we receive incredible blessings from God.

Looking at the life of Moses, let's see what blessings He received by responding correctly to the transitions God brought into his life:

He experienced God's Purpose– Exodus 3:7-10 -- Moses had been a shepherd, but now was being called by God to be personally involved in God's deliverance of the nation. He would have missed God's purpose for his life without this transition-- he would have stayed a shepherd.

He experienced God's Provision– Exodus 15:22- 16:4 -- God miraculously provided for Moses and the Israelites due to Moses' willingness to accept this "transition" in his life.

He experienced God's Presence—Exodus 3:12,14; 6:3; 15:26; 17:15 -- the difficulties brought on by this transition brought Moses into a deeper understanding of who God was. God revealed Himself to Moses as a direct result of the transitions.

He experienced God's Power– Exodus 3– burning bush; plagues; Red Sea. He saw God's activity in ways he never would have seen without this transition in his life.

He revealed God's Character– 2 Cor. 3:7 -- God's character and glory showed in his face and flowed through him from his contact with and obedience to God's . Paul says of Moses:
the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance..." God's ultimate desire in bringing or allowing transition into our lives is to make us like His Son and reveal His Son through us. Do people see Jesus in you?

As you look to a new year, it means transition- Letting go of the old, embracing the new; Releasing the past, receiving the future; Are you ready for it?