A Fresh Start

by Jody Hoffman

 

It's back to school time! Approaching ever so quickly is the new school year; we are only days away from life change. From those long summer late nights and ever so little lazy mornings to "early to bed and early to rise" schedules kicking back into full swing of restarting a new school year. It's almost as big of a start as the New Year in January. In some ways it's even more. New teachers, new kids, new grades, and new materials - everything is fresh and ready to go. The book bags are bought, the school supplies checked off, the new clothes ready to wear, and a bit of anticipation in everyone's heart.

What's funny is that Buddy and I don't even have kids going back to school, and I still feel it! The buses are stretching their legs, checking out routes and rumbling through the neighborhoods once again; the aisles in every store are mounded with gear.  The smell of crayons, markers, and pencils fill the air, and summer comes to a close for all. Whether the temperatures cooperate or not, we all feel the summer ebb away like low tide, and memories are left high and dry on the sand of summer awaiting schools end again next spring. It is strange that it affects us all regardless if we have children attending school or not—we all still feel it!

But there is something really good about getting another fresh start 8 months into the year. New pointy crayons inspire new creation; new sharpened pencils beg to write new stories; blank pages eagerly await their turn to be doodled around the edges or a name to appear in the upper right hand corner, while new books long to be discovered with highlighted, underlined, or starred features. New teachers seem to give new hope; new friends are like hidden treasures ready to be discovered, and routine feels like good boundaries to guide a day and a life into becoming all that it was meant to be. Summer ends but only to unfold a new beginning as fresh as we want to make it.

It is so kind of God to give us newness in life. He gives us fresh starts and unmarked blank pages to let us choose what we want to make of it. New beginnings seem to create space and room to grow. New gear, new books, and new teachers all converge to draw out a desire to learn and become a more whole and healthy person. Fresh starts give us the opportunity to reevaluate, change direction, or determine our progress. To ask questions of ourselves - "What are we living for?" "What do I hope to accomplish?" "To what degree will I sacrifice to accomplish that goal?" Questions are effective teachers. Jesus asked questions - a lot.

I love when Jesus asks Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" 

"You are the Christ the son of the living God." Peter answers back.

But this is the part that is soooo good, He says, "...Flesh and bones have not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 16:13-17

Why is that "soooo" good? Because there are some things we learn that are just good to learn that teachers can teach us, but then there are some things that only God can teach us, that only He can reveal. As adults I'm afraid we forget to get the new books and new pencils and paper.  We forget to start over and listen for questions that challenge us and make us reassess where we are and where we want to go.  We need to continue to grow and learn.

I think if we could hear Jesus talk in flesh and blood to us, He may likely ask us that same question. "WHO do you say that I am?" I think we have some wrong ideas about Him and ourselves. I think we should ask God to reveal to us the truth—not just what we think is true, but what Jesus means as the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. Where do we have wrong thinking? Wrong thinking leads to wrong behavior, and wrong behavior is so frustrating! We see how difficult it is in others, but it's just as ugly and bad in us. So let's all go "back to school" and be learners. Let's get a fresh start and dig into listening and learning about "who" He really is. Check out your thoughts to "see if there is any wicked way in me".  Do we have something old and twisted wrong about God? Ask Him, "God, what do you want me to know?" Write down what you really believe, and ask where you may not quite get who He really is; where what you believe about Him is wrong and therefore you behave wrongly. It's more than just fixing the behavior - it's fixing the wrong belief. It's more than trying to get it right in our "flesh and bone" part, it is the revealing work of the Holy Spirit. I bet you can fill up a brand new notebook with all He is willing and waiting to tell you about Himself! Then email me (jody@gfc.tv) and share what you are learning because learning together is so much more fun!

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