A new year! Did you know the the most popular word in advertising
is ‘new’? A new whiteness, a new ingredient, a new sound. Have a
glance at your bathroom shelf, at all the aftershaves, bath oils and
beauty lotions that multiplied there at Christmas, and see what zest and fitness you
should be exhibiting , according to the blurb on the bottles. What ‘newness of life’!
The same words Paul used to describe the gift that Jesus gives his followers.
Well, it’s hardly surprising that many people dismiss such an idea lightly when the
same can be claimed of a bath cube!
But what if it should be true, as many Christians confirm? (And they’re not getting
commission on sales!) What sort of newness can it be? Well, I suppose that any-
one who has experienced deep human love will know how different the world
looks in the light of such love. And how much more astonishing the discovery that
God himself knows, understands us utterly. In the light of that love, the whole of
eternity looks different. Everything is new. It’s a message to marvel at!

We’re supposed to be living advertisements for
you Lord, aren’t we?
Help us to steer well clear of clever blurb that
misleads people.
It would be better if we could trust more
completely in your love for us and then,
in the security of that,
learn to share it more generously.

This is an extract from a Book entitled ‘Hello – This is message”