He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 1 Peter 2:24

We are hours away from the coming of 2022 and 2021 will be forever gone. It’s a time to look to the future, to make plans and decide what we want to get or achieve in the new year, but maybe it is a time to think about what we are going to give in the coming year.

Recently, I was driving on The Post Road that runs along the Hudson River from New York City to Rensselear. Established in 1669, it was an extension of what is now known as Broadway in the city and is named for the prime route for postal delivery.

What is unique is in the early days people didn’t put postal stamps on the mail, but rather the recipient paid the postage when their mail was received. The price depended on the length of the delivery. All along The Post Road there mile markers are used to determine the amount of the postage. I had to stop and take a picture.

Then I thought ….. this is the story of salvation. Before Jesus, we bore the penalty of our sin, but He came to save us from that. He put the “salvation stamps” on our personal envelope so that we didn’t have to pay for ourselves.

We don’t earn salvation. It is a gift. 1 Peter 2:23-25. He received every kind of suffering before he died for my sins. The message of the cross is foolishness to the world, but to us it is the power of God. Follow Jesus and turn your back on the world. Through His death on the tree, Jesus brought us and paid the price and gave us freedom, deliverance, forgiveness, righteousness, and hope.

Too often our culture is focused on what they have, money, cars, homes, collections and Investments. This attitude of having affects and infects Christians when they allow the world’s value system to drive them instead of spiritual values.

In this coming year, remember what’s important is not what we have or want, but what we have and what we give.

And it’s not about what we can afford, because we have the greatest gift of all and Jesus paid the price in full.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Depression in America has reached epidemic levels, increasing by 450 percent since 1987. Five times as many people are taking antidepressants now as then.

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Apps for Bible reading have been removed from the Apple store in mainland China.

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According to the World Economic Forum, religion contributes about $1.2 trillion dollars of socio-economic value to the US economy. This is more than the global annual revenues of the world’s top ten tech companies—including Apple, Amazon, and Google—and more than 50 percent larger than the global annual revenues of America’s six largest oil and gas companies. It seems clear that, despite rising secular opposition and vitriol, religion is good for society.

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In the 2004 Berkshire Hathaway annual stockholders’ meeting Warren Buffett was fielding audience questions. Justin Fong, a teenager from California asked the billionaire what advice he would give a young person on how to be successful. Buffett’s response?

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”

The Oracle of Omaha’s advice reminds us of an oracle from the wise man in Proverbs 13:20. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

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Florida is home to the Fountain of Youth; so, maybe that’s why the growth of the state’s aging population is booming. By 2030, people 65 and older will account for 57% of the population in Florida

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Would you walk a mile to share the Gospel? What about two miles? How far would you go to share the Gospel? For openers, how about walking across the street to your neighbor’s house and share the Gospel there? Dwight Short

God is working in you because you are His workmanship. May we yield to His touch. Dan Shock

When you want to use comparisons to help you understand how you stand with the Lord, don’t look around at your fellow believers, look upward toward Jesus and you will never get too over confident in your own self-worth. Dwight Short

Worry is a sin because God forbids it. Jim Cymbala

Because of Jesus, the child of God need never fear death. Florida Marketplace Ministry

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.

The moment I come under the influence of something then I am no longer free. Dan Shock

No one glides into godliness. Edgar Aponte