“FRESH START EFFECT”
OUR DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
READ: Colossians 3 (Focus vs. 1–10)
MEMORY VERSE
“[Put] on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Colossians 3:10
BACKGROUND
When Bryony turned thirty, she was sad to still be in a sales job she’d never liked. She decided it was time to stop procrastinating and find a new career.
For David, New Year’s Eve had him looking in the mirror vowing this would be the year he lost weight. And for James, it was watching another month pass without his angry outbursts decreasing. Next month, he promised himself, he would try harder.
If you’ve ever vowed to change at the start of a new month, new year, or a major birthday, you’re not alone. Researchers even have a name for it: the fresh start effect.
They suggest that at calendar points like these we’re more prone to assess our lives and try putting our failures behind us to start over. Wanting to be better people, we long for a fresh start.
Faith in Jesus speaks powerfully to this longing, offering a vision of what our best selves can be (Colossians 3:12–14) and calling us to leave our past selves behind (vv. 5–9). It offers this change not by decisions and vows alone, but by divine power.
When we believe in Jesus, we become new people, and God’s Spirit works in us to make us whole (v. 10; Titus 3:5).
Receiving salvation in Jesus is the ultimate fresh start. And it doesn’t need to wait for a special calendar date. Your new life can start right now.
By: Sheridan Voysey
INSIGHT
In Colossians 2, Paul established that we’ve “died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces [or basic principles] of this world” (v. 20). Then he asked these believers in Jesus, “Why do you keep on following the rules of this world” (v. 20 NLT).
He’d noticed they were lapsing into a legalistic form of religion. Paul said, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion . . . . But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” (v. 23 NLT).
In chapter 3, Paul turns our focus instead to Christ: “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is” (v. 1). We’re to “put to death . . . whatever belongs to [our] earthly nature,” that is, our sinful tendencies (vv. 5, 8–9).
This may well include things the world would consider “religious.” Instead, we’re to be guided by the Holy Spirit—the only lasting way to change our behavior.
By: Tim Gustafson
APPLICATION
How have you seen the fresh start effect at work in your life? What’s stopping you from receiving God’s gift of a new life now?
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
“Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results is the mark of insanity” Adapted – Einstein
“Nothing Changed, Nothing Changes” Bishop Lyold Cartwright
“Behold, I’m doing a New Thing!…” Isaiah 43:19
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (My Re-Emphasis from Post)
“Receiving salvation in Jesus is the ultimate fresh start. And it doesn’t need to wait for a special calendar date. Your new life can start right now.”
PRAYER
“Jesus, I give up my own plans to follow Yours. Please give me a fresh start!”
*YOUR TAKE? 
TODAY’s HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL
“NEW BEGINNINGS” Every Nation Music
This is the day of new beginnings
The old is passing
Change is coming by your Spirit
It’s a new season of revealing
Your Word is true and You will never ever fail
Your presence will lead us
This is the day of new beginnings
The old is passing
Change is coming by your Spirit
It’s a new season of revealing
Your Word is true and You will never ever fail
Your presence will lead us
Always providing in the desert
And filling our souls with living waters
And lighting the night with Holy fire
You’re turning dead ends into doorways
This is the day of new beginnings…
This is the day of new beginnings
The old is passing (the old is passing)
And change is coming (change is coming by your Spirit)
It’s a new season of revealing
Your Word is true and You will never ever fail
Your presence will lead us
Always providing in the desert
great is your Faithfulness, God
(Filling our souls) filling our souls with living water
(Lighting the night) lighting the night with Holy Fire
You’re turning dead ends into doorways
God, we believe
That this is a new season that You’ve given us
Father God, You make all things new, Lord
You never fail, You never fail, You never fail
Great is your Faithfulness, God
And He’s never failed me yet
He’s never failed me yet
My heart and my soul confess
God is my confidence
He’s never failed me yet (never ever, ever fail)
God is my confidence…
Our hearts and our souls confess
You are our confidence…
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE THIS YEAR (THIS WEEK)
THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Only 28 Chapters – Start the Year off reading through a whole book of the Bible. Get to know Jesus in Matthew