January 1, 2022 - Genesis 1-3

Another year, which means that I get to enjoy the creation story, once again, on the first day of the year. How amazing! With the spoken word, God created all that is! In his creation he placed man and woman, saying to the man, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (2:16-17). Boundaries. Boundaries set, not for the diminishing of our first parents but for their benefit. From the very beginning, a principle was established: wise decisions bring blessing, lack of wisdom the opposite. In fact, what is “wisdom?” It is the ability to make good and godly choices in our lives.

In his Word, God tells us how to live. I have been thinking, of late, much about “life decisions” and how they affect so many lives, some for good, some for bad. Always, there are those who follow God’s instruction and those who do not, e.g., “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands” (Proverbs 14:1) and “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5-6). Here’s a good resolution for the new year: Let us ask for wisdom (James 1:5) so that we make godly decisions and live lives pleasing to our God even as we recognize that all good things come from our Creator God.

We plow the fields and scatter

the good seed on the land,

but it is fed and watered

by God’s almighty hand.

God sends the snow in winter,

the warmth to swell the grain,

the breezes, and the sunshine,

and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us are sent from heav’n above.

We thank you, God, we thank you, God, for all your love. -- Matthias Claudius (1782)