January 3 – New Year's Day

        John 15:5 – "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a person remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing."

        Psalm 1:3 – "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which produces its fruit in season...."

        The music group U2 produced in 1983 a song called "New Year's Day". While it has overtones related to a long-standing feud in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics, it also has ideas related to the above scriptures, as well as some pessimism. Listening to that song forces one to look inside, and ask whether things have changed positively since the previous new year's day.

        When one plants something, that plant cannot move on its own. It has a new place of existence. When a tree sprouts naturally from a seedling, it is stuck in its natural environment; it cannot uproot itself and move to a different location. The same is not true of people. We can pick up our roots and move to different places. Where we tap our resources for growth or stagnation, are daily choices. Let's choose to remain in the source of God's spirit, which produces the fruit in our lives. Read Gal. 5:22, 23, as well as the entire context of the verses above. Both deal with life choices and the resulting fruit that is produced.

        Everyday can't be New Year's Day, but it can be that year's new day in one's life.