Seize the Moment – Day 741
The Dawning of a New Day!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, March 28.
Today is a new day! Do you need a new beginning in an area of your life? The Israelites did and Samuel gave it to them after a long season of mourning. First Samuel 7:2-4 marks the dawning of a new day for Israel under Samuel’s faithful leadership:
From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.
Like the Israelites were confronted by God’s messenger, you have a choice to make if you want today to be the dawning of a new day in your life! I invite you to ask God to be your help in your pursuit to start afresh. Whether it’s for a new vision, or it’s for the perseverance to see a previous vision fulfilled, you can’t do it alone. Samuel demonstrated this in verse 12 with his fervent prayers for the Israelites: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’”
Ebenezer literally means “stone of help.” Samuel lifted an Ebenezer as a tangible reminder of the people’s need for God. It was a proclamation of God’s victory over their enemies, provision for His people’s needs, and the power to fulfill His promises for His people.
Seize the moment and lift an Ebenezer by confessing your sins, repenting by offering yourself as a living sacrifice, and experiencing the dawning of a new day by walking in the way of Jesus Christ.