The Gift of a New Heart and a Fresh Start

A New Year is upon us, and it brings visions of a fresh start. The sun comes up each morning, a reminder that each new day is a fresh opportunity. Because of Christ's great gifts, we don't have to be defined by our past, our failures, our infirmities. In Christ, God has entered our mess, but he does not leave us in the mess. The essence of salvation is that God takes my old dead heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh, one that is healed and softened to God. Nobody personifies the response to this sort of glorious healing better than the Samaritan leper who was healed, along with nine other guys. But, he alone realized what had been done and returned with thanksgiving. It is amazing how thankfulness unlocks the joys found in the miracle of Christmas. Our hopes for a new beginning in the New Year actually have nothing to do with the self-improvement promises we make to ourselves. Rather, hope is found in celebrating the grace that has been given to us and finding our identity in the "new you" that is already true because of Jesus' birth.