All our lives you and I are slaves of time. Whether we like it or not - whether we want to admit it or not - we are all slaves of time. Most of us can look down to our left wrist and notice the shackle that is there. It’s a watch. And we are such slaves to time that we need to take it with us wherever we go! Some even sleep with it on!

It’s not something new for us. Look back on your childhood for a moment and recall what you just hated to hear coming from your parents’ mouths: It’s time to go to bed. It’s time to get up. It’s time for school. Time for homework. Time to wash the dishes.

And that’s just the beginning. We grow older and it becomes time for work and time to make supper and time to do the laundry and time to pay the bills.

The clock keeps right on ticking. Time keeps right on moving. And time brings about all kinds of changes. Changed lives, changed jobs, changed homes, changed standards of living,  changed styles of clothing. So often these changes happen so fast that we don’t even have time to sit back and think about them. We simply prepare for the next change.

And yet, it’s a little different at this time of year isn’t it? Here we are just a few days into 2013. And as we begin a new year it’s good to pause a little bit and reflect. We don’t do it very often, but it is so good to do. Here we stand at the beginning of 2013, looking backward. We look at the time gone by and we see so many things; We see the presence of God and His leading and His guiding. We see blessings and good times and goals accomplished and objectives met.

But we also see things that haven’t been done, things that should not have been said, things that are disappointing. We see shortcomings and we see sin. It hurts to look backward at those things, doesn’t it? And if we’re honest we have to admit that we’re ashamed of the year 2012 - in so many ways.

But looking backward we see something else. Something amazing. Something wonderful. Something incredible. We find that our Lord has taken all those sins and shortcomings and He’s taken them to himself on Calvary’s cross. He takes them away. They’re gone. Wiped out. Never to be remembered! We enter 2013 with a totally clean slate. Not one single sin of 2012 comes along. Our sins have been totally forgiven and forgotten by Jesus.

And with our slate and our hearts clean, it’s time to look forward. What do we see? A whole year - 2013. A year of time and changes. But we also see in this year ahead Jesus Christ our Savior. He’s with us year after year. He’s with us every day taking those sins and shortcomings and taking them to the cross. He’s with us as He daily wipes our slate clean. That’s what we see as we look ahead to 2013.

But as Christians we also ask, “Lord, what do you see for me in 2013?”

His answer? I see you growing in Christ. I see you growing in faith. I see you faithfully attending God’s house for worship. I see you living God-pleasing lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. I see you rejoicing in the salvation that I have won for you. And I see you sharing it with others. That’s what I see for you in 2013, says our Lord.

And with our Lord leading, guiding and blessing us, we look forward to this New Year. God grant each of you a most happy new year in Jesus’ name.