22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Reflection
A New Year prayer.
Dear Lord,
So far this year I’ve done well.
I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper, I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Amen.
Why do we make resolutions? I don’t mean why in the sense why do we bother but simply why do we feel the need to make them. The obvious answer is we feel our need to change.
We all need to change. None of us has arrived.
But there is One who doesn’t need to change – nor does He change.
Consider Lamentations. What an ironic place to turn in the Bible. The word means crying or an expression of grief. Though the author is unnamed many believe it was written by Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet.”
Look at chapter 3:22-24: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
James wrote in 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
I came across a tidbit from Oswald Chambers during a quiet time years ago.
Chambers wrote: “The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him.”
It is too easy for us to project our shortcomings onto God. Where we are often conditional with love, God never is. Where we hold grudges, God never does. Where we wake up in a bad mood, well God never sleeps but His love is new every morning as we just read a few moments ago.
None of us had a father like the Heavenly Father, which makes it hard for me to understand or accept that kind of love. But that is one reason we have the Scriptures. John 3:16 reminds us just how much God loves us.
Consider the love, the steadfast, unwavering, unfaltering, resolute, persistent, unswerving, unchanging love of the Lord.
It never ceases, stops, comes to an end, concludes, finishes, terminates or draws to a close.
It isn’t new. And that’s exactly why we can hope and trust in it. It is new every morning. Just like His mercies, compassion, forgiveness, kindness and understanding. His mercy never comes to an end. It is limitless, boundless, endless, infinite and immeasurable. Just like His love. And it too, is new every morning.
Consider His faithfulness. It is dedicated, dutiful and constant. It is great, immense, enormous, huge, vast and incalculable. And it is new every morning. Or at least it can be.
How? Just ask the writer of Lamentations. “The Lord is my portion,” wrote the author. God was his portion. While 11 of the 12 tribes received their inheritance, the Levites didn’t. Instead of land or possessions or territory, God was their inheritance.
In Numbers 18:20, the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.”
What do you hope for? What is your portion?
Treasure, a vibrant stock market, a raise, the lottery?
Those things will eventually rot, crash, be spent or lost. But the things of God are forever.
Asaph wrote in Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
I can guarantee our flesh and heart will fail. I had open-heart surgery to replace my aortic valve in my 40s. My first wife lost her hearing and vision in her 50s, and died in her 60’s.
Our bodies will fail. Our treasure will rust. Unless our treasure is God. Is He your portion? If so, like the writer we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in him.”
Are you hoping for a great New Year? Are you hoping to keep all your resolutions? Are you just hoping to make it until next year? Put your hope in the Lord. Let Him be your treasure, inheritance and portion.
His love never ceases. His mercies never end. His faithfulness is great.
And it is NEW, not just every New Year, it’s NEW every morning.
by Rick Reed
For Pondering and Prayer
We make New Year’s resolutions. They are quickly forgotten. But what happens on Jan. 2, when they are forgotten, we still want to change. Forget resolutions, think about God. His love is new every morning. So everyday can be January 1. His love for us is new every morning.
Prayer: Dear God, we want to change. We want to be more like you. We can’t do it without you. Be with us every second of the New Year. Help us to be more like you. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
