I have watched the sunset three consecutive days this week; clear, brilliant and beautiful! Here’s even a picture to prove it. Thanks to the generosity of dear friends who lent us a small pad, we had the pleasure of being just meters away from the Mediterranean sea. You would have hardly believed it was winter!
The sunsets and bright dawns of the last few days remind me of the close of 2011 and rising 2012. The setting of old year and the dawning of a new one are cause for reflection and anticipation. So many wait for the new year to start again and resolve anew. Good things of course, but as Christians we have the advantage of knowing for certain that we need not wait for a new year to be moved to resolution. The mercy and compassion of God are sufficient to make each day the occasion for hope and change. “His compassions which never fail and are new every morning” are brighter than any display of the sun on the glittering sea off the French coast. Our hope is grounded in His great faithfulness which acts as surety for all who have been indebted by their failures. It is that same faithfulness that secures what no resolution on our part could ever attain, a righteous standing before a holy God. That is pure gift and available with each new day for “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
The great thing about the New Year this year is that it starts on Sunday, the day we gather as a church. So join us at 16h30 this Sunday January 1st in Caluire (6, rue Albert Thomas, 69300). I can’t think of a better way to start 2012 than in the presence of those who have come to depend on the great and faithful Savior.
Sea you then,
Mike DiGena
Pastor ICCL
