Ready or not, off we head into the great unknown of 2009. As with the beginning of every year, there are so many uncertainties. Thirty five hundred years ago, the sons and daughters of Abraham were enduring the oppression of slavery under the pharaohs of Egypt little realizing that God had His hand on a little Jewish boy being raised by the daughter of pharaoh herself. Two thousand years ago an innocent and devout teenager named Mary entered a new year simply committed to expressing her deep love for God in a seemingly unnoticed way. Little did she realize that all of heaven took note, and her purity would pave the way for the Messiah to enter this world through her womb.
So here we are entering a new year. Tensions in the Middle East are as tense as ever. A soon-to-be inaugurated president is in the process of moving his wife and two young children to Washington as we meet here this morning. What will this year hold? There is little doubt that the folks at Fox News and CNN will have plenty to talk about…and most of it will put a knot in our stomachs if we let it.
This is why it is so very important to be in the Word of God, lest any of us forget that the little “s” story of our daily lives is simply a small part of the big “S” Story that God continues to tell. When Adam and Eve stepped foot out of that garden back in Genesis 3, it only took 8 verses into Genesis 4 for murder to become the top story in the evening news. We still have an enemy that slithers about with an army of unseen evil beings speaking words of temptation into our ears on continual basis. The year 2009 may involve new circumstances and events…but the Story is the same.
I want to encourage you…or perhaps even implore you…to join us this year in our journey through Scripture. Take ten minutes that you would have given to Greta Van Susteren, and give it to God. Greta gets paid to look at life from an earthly perspective, which we all understand. But if you really want a dose of “fair and unbalanced,” put your nose into the Bible for 10 minutes a day. What you will see day after day is that no matter how bad the nightly news was…God was still in charge. And make no mistake…He still is.