Are You Starting the New Year with a Purpose

I’ve been thinking about time alot this week. Starting a new calendar is a big deal. I love having a clean planner, dates stretch out fresh with possibilities. No appointments scribbled out yet and no reminders of my problem with procrastination or promptness, just clean white pages waiting to be filled.

Did you know that God cares about time?

I did a search of the use of the word “time” in the NIV Bible, and discovered that it is used 888 times. The first verse which includes the word “time” is in the Book of Genesis, the first chapter, where in verse 5 it says:

God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And in verse 14:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years.”

I believe our attitudes about time reveal a great deal about our attitudes toward God. Is each moment a gift or does it simply just happen? Were you and I created for a specific time in history, or are we just here by chance?

If we are here in our current time and place for a purpose, are we pursuing that purpose and living each day keeping our purpose in mind? What is your purpose?

Is your purpose to be: a parent, a spouse, a child, an employer, an employee, a friend, a grandchild, a niece, a nephew, aunt or uncle, a sibling, a child of God . . .

As you prepare to welcome 2012 and open a new planner, think about your purpose and how knowing your purpose will influence your use of time.

In the Book of Esther, Mordecai challenges his niece, Esther, with these words:

“who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b

Your purpose or mine may not influence the lives of an entire nation but then again it may. We may not know how God intends to use us for His purposes, but God knows. Psalm 139: 15-16 reads:

You know me inside and out,
You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day. (MSG)

As you prepare to celebrate the beginning of 2012, stop and think about the gift of time.

You were born for, “such a time as this.”

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3 Responses to Are You Starting the New Year with a Purpose
  1. Barbie
    December 30, 2011 | 11:59 am

    “Is each moment a gift or does it simply just happen? Were you and I created for a specific time in history, or are we just here by chance?” Great words to chew on this morning. What would my life be like if I lived each moment intentionally, on purpose? Thank you for this post my friend.

  2. […] with our sister sites. Deb, author of Counting My Blessings, wrote this post on 5 Minutes for Faith:Are You Starting the New Year with a Purpose?I’ve been thinking about time a lot this week. Starting a new calendar is a big deal. I love […]

  3. Deb
    December 31, 2011 | 11:06 am

    Thank you Barbie! Praying your new year is filled with precious blessings.