A fresh start. The beginning of each year has people thinking about new possibilities and making resolutions with the hope of a better future. People start diets, begin exercising or join new clubs. Weight loss, career change or new relationships captivate the minds of many. Have you made a New Year’s resolution? Is there something in your life that you want to change?

Although we make many resolutions, most are broken, and desired goals remain unattained. I appreciate how each new year reminds me to reflect and take stock of life. It is so easy to get caught up in the intense throes of daily living that we don’t take the time to ask ourselves if we are truly headed in the right direction. Are we living with the right goals? Will our lives make an eternal difference? Or are we just absorbed in an endless round of cat and mouse, constantly pursuing but never actually achieving the desired end?

Isaiah the prophet asks, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2). Are you, dear reader, living a life that does not satisfy, laboring for things that cannot bring you the joy or satisfaction you think they can? If so, have you considered taking a leap of faith and trusting your life entirely into God’s hands wherever He may ask you to go?

Over three billion souls remain in darkness without any opportunity to learn about our precious Savior. Could God be calling you to follow Him to the ends of the earth as a living incarnation of His love and light to those who only know hopelessness and despair? Could it be that what your soul truly longs for can only be found in self-sacrificial service for the King of the universe? “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

Perhaps the idea of becoming a missionary has always intrigued you. Maybe you comfort yourself with your intent to do it sometime in the future. Yet you realize that deep inside, you are not satisfied with life. Dear friend, if this describes you, I challenge you to decide today to offer yourself unreservedly to God’s service. In this new year, God is offering you the opportunity to start anew. Resolve to follow His call so those in darkness can also have a new start.

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