Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit. -Psalm 51:10-12
Happy New Year! 2023 is here! A new year gives time for pause, a time to reflect and a time to review where we have been and where we are each going.
What new traditions or habits might you plan to add or subtract from your life? So many times, I hear people talk about what they are giving up or not going to do in the new year, but I challenge you to look at what good things you might add to your lives! I am not talking about anything momentous, although that would be fantastic as well, let us think simple. What might that be? What might that do for your new year?
Many years ago, when I was teaching a youth Sunday School class, we studied Psalm 51 on the first Sunday of the New Year with particular emphasis on verse 10 which says, “create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Each Sunday we read the scripture and discussed what the writer was telling us and then we would discuss how we might apply that scripture within our daily lives. Each week typically included some sort of craft too. That particular week, each person got a white ceramic dinner plate to write down or draw a variety of things that they wanted to leave behind. Each person thought seriously about what to place on their plates and then worked diligently on drawing and/or writing on their plates. Upon completion, we placed each person’s plate in a pillowcase, and they smashed it with a mallet. The kids particularly liked the smashing part! It illustrated that we cannot truly have a clean heart if we carry all the old stuff with us. Then, each person was given another clean, white ceramic plate in which to draw and/or write the things that they wanted to focus on in the new year.
What will you write and/or draw on your clean white ceramic plate for 2023?
Blessings, Pastor Heidi