In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’”
4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for a New Year. Thank You for the privilege of life lived another day. Thank you for a dividing line that marks time--another year.
"... John marked a dividing line in history. Since John's proclamation had been made, Jesus had come; eternity had invaded time; heaven had invaded earth; God had arrived in Jesus; life could never be the same again. We date all time as before Christ and after Christ--B.C. and A.D. Jesus is the dividing line. Therefore, all who come after him and who receive him are of necessity granted a greater blessing than all who went before. The entry of Jesus into the world divided all time into two; and it divided all life in two. 'If any man be in Christ he is a new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is created all over again." (William Barclay in The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 89).
So as one calendar is removed from the wall and another replaces it, I participate in Your incredible creative gift to humanity, time. You transcend time. Time does not confine or limit You. You are Supra-time. Yet You create time for us to enjoy. You create us with a need for daylight and dark, work and sleep, labor and rest. You mark those divisions, and call it time.
Then You came to the world You created. Transcendent Deity crossed the boundaries between timelessness and time, eternity and creation, heaven and earth... The Creator of time voluntarily took upon Himself the limitation of the time-bound. You invaded space in a manger, and nothing has been the same.
So as dachshunds come down from the wall calendar, and mountains rise, I mark time. I mark the end of one year and the beginning of another. I am told that this year is worthy of a number. Not just any number. This number is a memorial to the time when Ultimate Reality invaded the human experience. The Holy Spirit conceived in the womb of woman. God became man. That changed everything! Even my calendar.
Thank You.
In the Name of Jesus,
Amen.
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