By Travis Lauterbach

Another New Year has dawned upon the world. The New Year often means a fresh start in some ways.

Sure, the troubles and sufferings that affected people in 2017 didn’t evaporate once the ball dropped.

Yet, a New Year gives opportunities to begin new habits- positive habits.

So people come up with resolutions. Some are intentionally silly, while others are very serious matters to those who make them.

Most people are familiar with the traditional resolutions. Start a new diet. Give up smoking. Give up drinking. Give up sugar. Hit the gym more. I’m guessing January is the favorite month of the year for gym owners.

Sometimes resolutions are forgotten in the first few weeks. While other times they become long lasting good habits that truly change a person’s whole life.

I encourage one more “fresh start” this New Year: the Word of God. Now is as good a time as any to begin a daily devotion, dive into a more in-depth study, attend church, or sit in on a Bible Class.

The Bible is a treasure waiting to be unearthed, mined, and cherished. It’s not precious because of the book itself, but because of the message it brings: the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:28)

To “keep it” means to guard it as precious, to hold it near and dear, and to regard it with utmost importance. Jesus says there is blessing for those who cherish and cling to the message the Bible brings.

For between the covers of the Bible, there’s a story of a creation that rebelled against God and earned death for its treason. Yet, God showed underserved love by entering into the world to save those same traitors.

The Bible is the precious story of justice and mercy, treason and pardon, sin and grace, enslavement and redemption, debt and forgiveness, death and life.

The Bible contains all of the great storylines people love to read, hear, and watch. The Bible is the ultimate redemption story- creation’s redemption.

Another New Year has dawned upon the world. The New Year often means a fresh start in some ways.

Sure, the troubles and sufferings that affected people in 2017 didn’t evaporate once the ball dropped.

Yet, a New Year gives opportunities to begin new habits- positive habits.

So people come up with resolutions. Some are intentionally silly, while others are very serious matters to those who make them.

Most people are familiar with the traditional resolutions. Start a new diet. Give up smoking. Give up drinking. Give up sugar. Hit the gym more. I’m guessing January is the favorite month of the year for gym owners.

Sometimes resolutions are forgotten in the first few weeks. While other times they become long lasting good habits that truly change a person’s whole life.

I encourage one more “fresh start” this New Year: the Word of God. Now is as good a time as any to begin a daily devotion, dive into a more in-depth study, attend church, or sit in on a Bible Class.

The Bible is a treasure waiting to be unearthed, mined, and cherished. It’s not precious because of the book itself, but because of the message it brings: the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:28)

To “keep it” means to guard it as precious, to hold it near and dear, and to regard it with utmost importance. Jesus says there is blessing for those who cherish and cling to the message the Bible brings.

For between the covers of the Bible, there’s a story of a creation that rebelled against God and earned death for its treason. Yet, God showed underserved love by entering into the world to save those same traitors.

The Bible is the precious story of justice and mercy, treason and pardon, sin and grace, enslavement and redemption, debt and forgiveness, death and life.

The Bible contains all of the great storylines people love to read, hear, and watch. The Bible is the ultimate redemption story- creation’s redemption.