Starting Again – by Eliezer Gonzalez
Dec 22, 2015 1923
Where would we be if we couldn’t start again – if there were no second chances, if we could never try again, if nothing was ever new? There would be no dawning suns, no newborn babies, and no birthdays. There would be no forgiveness, no renewal, and no restoration.
If you are anything like me – by which I mean a human being – then I suspect that you have experienced your share of faults, failures, and falls during this last year. If you couldn’t start again there would be no hope for you and for me.
The essence of the Gospel is that we always get to start again, we can always be renewed in Christ when by faith we have Him as our Lord and King – not just at the start of the new year, but every day! We can be accounted before God, and we can live within ourselves and toward others knowing that we are totally accepted by Him. We can live as if we had never committed a fault, as if we had never committed a fault, never failed, and never fallen – ever!
When Peter thought to get some approval from Jesus, he asked him, “How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? How about seven times?” Jesus looked a Peter sideways, as if to say, “You still don’t get it, do you Peter?” He said to Peter, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven” (See Matt 18:21–22). In this way he told Peter that there was no limit to the mercy of God, no limit to his forgiving, restoring, and renewing power in our lives.
So how do we face the New Year? What Jesus said to Peter reminds me about when the Jews had just spent seventy years in captivity in Babylon, and after centuries of failure God had asked them to start again. He had given them the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. This is what the Lord Almighty said to them, and how I pray that you and I will face the New Year:
Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit – Zech 4:6
– Eliezer Gonzalez
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