January

In Roman mythology there was a god who was the guardian of doorways,
He had two faces on his head and could look backward and forward simultaneously.

He was the patron of beginnings and endings, and in 46 B.C. Roman emperor, Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar and gave the first month of the year the name of this pagan God, Janus' month or in latin Juanuarius from which we get our word, "January"

Janus' month has always been a time of endings and beginnings, when we have the feeling of making a fresh start on a clean slate.

People are obsessed with beginnings and endings.

They hold meaning for us, they fascinate us, we like them because they somehow magically make life seem simpler, not so complex and overwhelming. It helps us place life into small compartments that are easier to deal with.

* We mark the beginning of a new year.
* The day a person in born.
* The day a person graduates from primary, secondary, or University school.
* The day a person is married.
* The day this church was started.

Like the greek mythological figure from which we get the name "January", we look backward and forward.
We reminisce about how things were. But we also look forward to the future!

I have here a daytimer... people are fond of giving these away at the end of the year.

Last week I was looking over last years appointments.
It was nice to be able to look back over the year:
* See the things I accomplished.
* Look at all the appointments, the people I had met, the events I attended.

But there were also regrets:
* the vacation I never took.
* The things I wanted to do, but in the hectic pace of life, never found the time.

Even so, there was something nice about being able to set it aside, and to say, "That was last year.!"
Now I have a clean slate. A new start. New possibiities. I have great expectations looking foward!

You may not even have a daytimer.
But we all have memories in which we record the events of our lives.

What will you record in your New Year's book?
Do you plan to make any changes?

Let God guide you to the changes he wants to make in your life! Just remember, God doesn't love you for what you've done or what you will do, but because of what he did on the cross. On the cross he forgave your past and gave you a future!