As we begin afresh with another year, I’m thankful for the promises of newness we find scattered throughout our lives. Each new year. Each new season. Each new morning. With every sunrise, I see this verse displayed and am filled with gratitude that we are made new in the same way the days are made new—over and over and over.
I find this act of being made new to be less destination focused and more a matter of process. There is beauty waiting not just at the end, but also in the becoming, in the unfolding of that beauty along the way. I find encouragement in the way that after all this time God continues the process of creating and recreating (in partnership with our availability).
As a creative person, I find particular inspiration in God’s example of creativity. It’s the ultimate demonstration of the creative process because it begins with a vision, but then pairs it with authenticity. It’s not rigidity that imposes itself upon creation. It’s a working to bring the creation to life while also making space for what the creation itself wants to become. There’s a relational element to creativity that God displays so well.
As we present ourselves to God, we are gifted with the newness God desires for us. Newness is often accompanied by hope, by an ability to bend without breaking, by life and vibrancy. Newness is an indication of growth, because its absence gives way to death and decay.
May we celebrate the relational creativity of God. And may we make ourselves available to the newness God longs to bring into our lives and our selves with gratitude, even when we are comfortable with the old, especially when we are comfortable with the old.
Below you’ll find the free printable of this month’s memory verse. My apologies for the delay. It’s been a week of colds and the annual introvert hibernation that follows the holiday season. Fortunately, this verse is brief and easy to memorize.
