Pastor's New Year Post

A new year is upon us, and many of you are probably thinking, “Thank the Lord! And good riddance to 2020!" With everything that has happened in this past year, many of us will be glad to see that it is over.

In the Disney movie “The Lion King”, there is a scene where the younger lion, Simba, has come of age, and is ready to take the throne. The baboon sage smacks Simba hard on the back of his head with a open hand. Simba asks, “What was that for?” To which the sage replies, “It doesn’t matter, its in the past.”

While we definitely do not want to dwell on the past, reliving its pains and sufferings over and over again, we still need to learn from the past, or we will be doomed to repeat it. Doomed to make the same mistakes, make the same bad decisions, make the same bad choices, and commit the same sins over and over again.

In 1 John 1:6-9, John writes, “⁶If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We all need truth in our lives. We can only lie to ourselves for so long before it catches up to us. But Jesus gives a clear path into the truth and a clear path into the light. Leave all the sins and problems of 2020 in the past. Come completely clean by confessing all those sins, and receive the full and perfect forgiveness that Jesus won for us on His cross. He gives us a perfectly fresh start by giving us a perfect cleansing of all our sins. And remember, once it has been forgiven, it doesn’t matter anymore, its in the past.

Start fresh again in 2021. Repent and confess, and be cleansed perfectly by Jesus!

In His perfect love,
Pastor Paul K. Pett