Ecclesiastes1:9 - "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." KJV "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." NIV "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new." NLB (New Living Bible) When I was growing up and learning to sew I could really make a mess of things. I would get a pattern and material, sort out the pattern and lay it out on the material. Then I'd start cutting. Great! Done! Now it was time to stitch it together. That's when the trouble began. But not really. The trouble actually began from the minute I lay the pattern on the material. I didn't follow the directions. I messed up right from the start. After fussing and fuming, and shedding a few tears, Mom would come to my rescue. She would have helped me from the first, if I had asked. But I didn't. I thought I could do it on my own. Mom was a seamstress. She knew how to fix up my mess. But she couldn't start all over again. The material was already cut. She had to take the pattern I had chosen, lay it out on the table; and then take a look at where I had made my mistake. With ingenuity she renovated my disaster. She made a lovely dress out of my mess-up. At this time of year we will hear people talking about the New Year. Oh what great hopes they have for this coming year. "We sure made a mess of things this year, but now we can start all over again." Then they proceed to make a list of New Year's resolutions. Does that sound familiar? But wait! You'd think, after so many years of doing this that we'd learn. We can't start all over. We are still US. We will keep on messing up, unless we let the Master Designer take over. Then He can take the material we have messed up, and make it over. He can make a new garment out of the ruined one. How can He do this? HE HOLDS THE MASTER PLAN. II Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." This verse says that all things become new. God takes OLD THINGS and makes them NEW. He doesn't throw out the OLD. He makes it NEW. So, at the start of this NEW Year, let us allow God to make OLD thngs NEW. © Helen Dowd
See:
He Holds The Master Plan.
Getting Rid of Your Past
New Year's Has Two Faces
The Play of The Year