Mensa Otabil - A New Beginning
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Welcome to a brand-new week, and we’re going back to Egypt as we look at the final push to bring God’s people out of bondage. So we go to Exodus chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, «This month shall be the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.» After 430 years, Israel is experiencing a new beginning. God has been working with Moses and Aaron for some time. They’ve engaged Pharaoh; Pharaoh has pushed back, and God says the calendar is being reset. A new story is going to be told. So He talks about a new beginning, and that sets the tone for their deliverance.
A new beginning has many implications. It means a new start; they are about to begin a new phase of their lives. It is a phase that ends the story beginning from Jacob entering Egypt up until this time. It’s been a checkered history, but that is coming to an end, and a new phase is beginning. God has a way of opening new pages in our lives, and I believe for some of us, we can also say God is beginning a new thing with us.
A new beginning is also a new season. Yes, God says to them the calendar is changing, and He says, «I’m setting you apart. I’m going to do something in the season of your life that will be very different from the past seasons of your life.» He says to Israel, «You’re going to count the year from this month, from this season.» It’s almost as if 400 years of experience is being wiped out, and a new experience is beginning.
You know, God has a way of sometimes coming into our lives; it may be 10 years of struggling, 10 years of bondage, 10 years of pain and tears, or 20 years, or even 30 years. But there comes a time when God says, «I’m beginning something new.» He wipes out the tears of the past and opens a new season of your life. I pray that each one of us will experience a new season of favor, increase, abundance, and the goodness of the Lord. May the Lord turn every negative captivity around, and may He bring us into a new beginning.
A new season also represents a new status. The children of Israel are no longer going to be called the slaves of Egypt; they will be called the children of God, God’s nation, God’s people. For a time and for a season, nobody knew who they were; they just walked their way into a nation, stayed there, and became slaves. They didn’t seem to belong to anyone; they didn’t seem to have any value. But their status is changing.
The status of the slave is becoming the status of a privileged people. I believe God is able to do that for each one of us. He’s able to change our status, where once you were despised and now you are the owner; once you were the one that everybody was pushing away, and now you are the one that everybody is embracing. May the Lord change our status in life. It’s a new start; it’s a new season, and it’s a new status. That is what God said to Moses: «These are the new times that I’m bringing to you-a new beginning for you, for your nation, and for your people.» I pray that God will do the same for each one of us.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, You are the God of a new beginning. Start a new work in my life. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.