Don't you love the feeling of waking up to a fresh, new year? It reminds
me of when I was a child and received a new coloring book and crayons....
I always loved to pick out all the best pages that I decided I would color
first. Next I would set aside my favorite shades of crayons and then happily
begin the task of diligently filling each picture in with my choices.
Staying in the lines was important to me and brought me much satisfaction
as I sat back and viewed my completed work. Some days I would look back
over the pages in my coloring book and I could easily tell when my heart
wasn't in my work by the scribbling that I did. I disliked those pages
where I went out of the lines and usually passed quickly over them when
presenting my finished work to my parents for praise. I don't know about
you, but the fun part of coloring for me was to fill in some of the pictures
with the least likely colors you would expect to see of an object. You
could make an apple blue if you wanted, or give a tree purple leaves etc.
I enjoyed making those decisions for myself.....
I shared all that with you to give you an idea of how I feel about the
New Year. It is much like receiving a new coloring book.... It really
is up to me what color I will fill each day with this year that I am given
by the Lord. You know ladies, when you get a new coloring book, the design
of the pictures has already been decided upon by someone else... So it
is with our lives! The Lord has a coloring book for you and I containing
pictures that He has personally planned for each of us. However, the colors
we place on our pages is up to us! The Lord even equips His children with
the crayons to use... The fruits of the spirit, when controlling our lives
and guiding our every choice, bring beautiful color to the pages of our
life. As we present our work to those who are closest to us, they too
receive pleasure from our pleasant, godly choices. At times, crayons need
to be sharpened to make staying in the lines easier... So too, the fruits
of the Spirit allow us to prosper within the design of God's will for
our lives. Has your workmanship for the Lord become dull and sloppy, dear
lady? Keep your crayons sharpened this year that your work may be presentable!
Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there
is no law."
One day we will present our coloring book to the One who designed it for
us, representing each year of our lives that He has given us on this earth.
Will there be any scribbling on your pages, marks that reflect your heart
not being in your work, revealing your careless attitude toward "staying
in the lines"? Those lines that we like to stay in while coloring can
be likened to the Lord's will for our lives, to those things that are
pleasing in His sight. In His wisdom, God has set up boundaries for us
that are for our protection and when we overstep those boundaries, our
work doesn't look so good, amen? With God, we won't be able to skip over
our sloppy work like I did with my parents.... In that sobering moment
when we stand before Him to present the pages of our life, it's not going
to bring us much joy or satisfaction to look back on our careless scribblings!
Romans 14:12, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to
God."
Keeping this verse in mind, we have before us in the new year a fresh
new book to fill! Praise God that He has given us another year to serve
Him, amen? We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds
the future and that is what allows us by faith to go forth in confidence,
peace and obedience to the Lord. Take some time to pick out your crayon
colors now to fill your pages with, for you might not want to use some
of the same colors you chose last year...
~MY YEAR BOOK~
The Master gave a "Book" to me
With pages pure and white;
And then He said, "Most carefully
Upon it you must write."
"No blot should mar a single page,
Of such a volume fair,
Each word you write will always stay,
Forever entered there."
For twelve brief months the "Book" was mine,
And then He came once more;
To give a new one all unsoiled,
As He had done before.
He took the "Book" away from me
Although I begged of Him,
For just a moment more of time -
I'd fill it to the brim.
With effort to correct a page,
To cancel each bad spot;
But opportunity was gone,
Old Years cannot be bought.
A New Year lies before me now,
It's pages clean and white;
"Dear Lord," I cry, "Oh take my hand
And guide me as I write."
by G. Welker.
In closing, I want you to know that I will be praying specifically for
each of you this year.... I hope that the designs of 2001 the Lord has
placed within your book will be complimented with heavenly hues, bringing
glory and honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is worthy of our
best work, isn't He?
Col. 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and
not unto men..."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000
Pamela A. Iannello
