A Time For Doing Well

As we begin a new year of walking by faith and expectation of the goodness of God, it is well to look back for a brief moment and thank the Lord for all He has done in 2017. I can look back with gratitude for all He has done for me and for our family this past year. Many lessons have been learned and things put into practice that have yielded much fruit and good blessings for us. I hope the same may be said for you and for yours.
But now that a new year is in front of us, I personally do not like to look back to long. The future is always a bit daunting because of the unknown and because that's just how a walk of faith is. There is a sense of expectation of good, a knowledge that in the new year we will have our share of trials like anyone else. But we also know that our God reigns! And as He reigns He holds all things in the palm of His hand and we are safe in the sure ark of His wisdom.
I read in Genesis that God warned Cain to "do well" and if he does not do well sin is crouching at the door with an evil desire to destroy. I took this as a stern yet reassuring warning from the Lord. We must remember, that in the face of all the blessings we enjoy from our Savior, our adversary is never far away. Not only is the enemy of our soul near desiring to destroy us, our own sin nature is also a constant presence and even a threat to our well being. We must always be vigilant against both of those realities.
But I also read that in the midst of the turmoil and overwhelming presence of sin and evil in the ancient world, God provided for His godly remnant an ark of salvation. He led Noah and his family into the safety of that great vessel and they passed through the storm into the other side and into new beginnings. I hope we all experience a new year full of the blessing and protection of Christ our Lord our true ark of salvation and initiator of a new and better covenant. I trust we guard against our enemy, and persevere to victory and greater maturity in our faith and walk with Him.  I hope we make it our purpose, deliberately, to "do well," and to live with an expectation of our lives having an impact for Jesus Christ and His kingdom in our hurting and confused culture and world. God bless,  and have a blessed new year.