Better than a New Year

Happy New Year! Speaking of "new," there's a promise in the Bible, and we don't even have to wait for a "new year" to claim it! Lamentations 3:21-23.

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

Pause! Stop reading! Think.

Did you hear what you just read? Oftentimes, we read through Scripture but fail to actually grasp what it is saying! This I recall to my mind. In other words, when I remember this. When I recollect this. When I dwell upon this. I have hope!  

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, 
Because His compassions fail not.

This is what we can recall in order to have hope!  His mercies.  His compassions.  Dictionary.com defines "compassion" as "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering." And yet, they do not fail.  How many times have people failed us? What a picture of God! What a wondrous remembrance, especially when tempted to be discouraged. 

They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. 

Those mercies?  Those compassions? They are new every morning. 

We may be daily learning more of our heavenly Father, gaining a fresh experience of His grace; then we shall desire to speak of His love; and as we do this, our own hearts will be warmed and encouraged. If we thought and talked more of Jesus, and less of self, we should have far more of His presence (SC 101.3). 

So, not only is today a new year, it is a new day.  It is a new day to gain "a fresh experience of His grace."  It is a new day to recall His goodness towards us.  His mercies, which keep us alive.  His compassions, for "He remembers that we are dust."  It is a new day to have hope.  And you know what?  Tomorrow is a new day, too.  And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD'S Mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.