Daily Lesson for January 1, 2015

Today's daily lesson for January 1st is from Luke chapter 2 verse 21:

"After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

Today is New Year's Day in the Gregorian civil calendar, and in the liturgical calendar the Feast of the Holy Name, a day which commemorates when by custom Jesus was circumcised and named on the eighth day after his birth.

The eighth day is always a day for new beginnings. There are seven days in the week beginning with Sunday and so a new week always begins on the eighth day, the next Sunday. A whole new creation Christians believe occurred then on the eighth day, the day of resurrection Easter Sunday. So it is fitting that a new year begin on the eighth day after Jesus' birth. It is a day for new things beginning. 

January 1 is a day for new beginnings. 2014 is over and done with; 2015 is just beginning. We need not dwell on what was done or left undone in 2014 which gives us grief. Instead, we should look ahead toward what we might still be able to do and be in the new year. "The old has passed away, and see the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Today is the eighth day, which is the first day, the day of renewal. And that means it is a great day to start again.

Happy New Year.