2023

 

I taught junior high school (now called middle school) and our second semester started the third week of January.  On that Monday, I would hold up my grade book and say, “Here is my grade book for the second semester.  You can see your name on the left,” and I would let a couple of students on the front row verify their names.  Then I would go on, “Do you see the grades that you have for the second semester?”  And of course, the front row students had nothing to see.  I would continue, “There are no zeros for homework not turned in, there are no failing test grades, and there are no incomplete marks for unfinished assignments.”  Then I would pause for the reality of my statements to sink in.  Then I would finish, “You have the opportunity to do better this semester.  The failures of the past semester are wiped clean.  That page has been turned.  You can start afresh this semester and do your best work.”  Hey, today starts 2023.  You haven’t messed up a single time … not yet.  And Monday begins a new work year for you to do your best at work.  You can be on time every day, beginning tomorrow.  And today, you can be a better parent, a better spouse, or a better child.  Hey, don’t waste the new opportunities in 2023!  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Today begins the first day of the rest of your life.  Use each day wisely.  You’ll be glad that you did.