Today is an exciting day, for God has given you an opportunity to begin again! When you first became a Christian, a New Creation in Christ, God made “all things become new” in your life (II Corinthians 5:17).
But since then, some have lost the thrill of being a child of God, some have found that believing seems harder than it was before. Yet, you can begin again! Some are having difficulty getting their priorities right: Go For the Best — God, Family, Business. Some can’t seem to get ahead with their bills. Some do not feel as physically fit as they once were. To all these — and more — God says: You Can Choose To Begin Again!
One Bible character who demonstrated this so clearly is Isaac — read Genesis 26:12-33.
Isaac was a man who believed in applying God’s positive principles. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him” (v.12). The principle of giving and receiving worked then, and it is still working today. When the local people saw Isaac’s abundance, they were jealous — they developed a negative reaction to a positive blessing. So negative were they that they decided that if they could not get such an abundance then no-one was going to enjoy prosperity. They proceeded to fill in the wells of water and had their king invite Isaac to move to some other part of the country!
Isaac obviously believed that in order to enjoy all of God’s blessing, life had to be peaceful — so he moved to the valley of Gerar. “And Isaac digged again the wells of water…” (v.18) — Isaac began again. Isaac took the road of non-resistance and he dug again the wells that his father Abraham had first dug. God has no grand-children, and many times we too have to go over the same ground as did our fathers, in order to make the blessing ours. Once again, however, the locals wanted what Isaac had produced, so he called the well “Contention” (v.20), and moved on.
For the second time, Isaac began again. He had his servants dig another well, but the locals wanted that also. So Isaac named the well “Hatred”, and he moved on. One thing is for certain, Isaac and Company are sure getting good at digging wells!
For the third time, Isaac began again. On this occasion, when the well was dug, no-one strove for possession of it, so Isaac named the well “Room”, for he said, “For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” (v.22). Other translations render it “Spaciousness” and “Freedom”. It was a place where there was room for growth.
Isaac had enormous flocks and herds, and many ‘workers, so he decided to expand further. He went to Beersheba and God appeared to him and promised to bless him and multiply his seed. Isaac, in gratefulness, built an altar and worshipped God there. And his servants dug another well — Isaac had begun again for the fourth time!
While the well was being dug, the king who had thrown him out came and acknowledged that it was God’s blessing on Isaac’s life that had produced his greatness. They made a pact of non-aggression, and Isaac’s servants struck water in the new well.
What does this teach us. Very simply, You Can Choose to Begin Again! You can choose to think new thoughts, to ponder new values, to seek new light, to find new ways to express your gifts, to look for new ways to serve, to be productive. You can choose to begin again in your relationships to your family, your friends, in your understanding of others, in your positive contribution to the world around you.
And above all, you can choose to begin again in your relationship to God. You can begin again and let God talk to you through the Bible. You can begin again and talk to God in affirmative prayer. You can begin again and talk to others about your faith. You can begin again and talk some positive truth into your own consciousness. Yes, God’s message to you today is: You Can Choose to Begin Again!
Leave A Comment