I’m a few days ahead of myself, but the current year is on its way out. Whatever took place in 2007 is in the history books or soon will be. Thanks to the internet, we have a rolling archive of information at our disposal that constantly pushes fresh news to the top while burying that which has been forgotten into its deepest recesses.

Every single one of us has memories which we want to cherish forever as well as those memories we would soon rather forget. Set before me, I can visualize many of the highlights and low points of the past year, nodding approval at some while looking upon others with disdain. There were times when I felt like a saint, but there were also those times I felt like the chiefest of sinners.

Regardless of what we do or how we feel, God is forever present watching over the events of our lives. Some people never acknowledge God, considering His very existence to be a myth or, at the very least, a disinterested being or force who could care less about us personally. Others believe in a personalized higher power, but they may think He (or She, or It) is always mad at them, so they keep their distance.

God wants to be more than a casual observer in our lives. His interest extends to answering the simple prayer of a child to tearing down the Berlin Wall. We may ascribe many of the events of our lives and world to happenstance, but He is not impotent nor is He impersonal — He wants to hear from you and bring meaning and order to your life.

Far be it for me to say you must do this or that in order to get God’s attention. He hears, sees and knows everything about you already — you just need to take that one step toward Him to ask for His forgiveness and to seek His continual guidance from that point forward.

Christians celebrated the birth of the Savior just days ago, but it doesn’t stop there. Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving, but the recipient must be willing to receive what He brings to them: forgiveness and a reordering of their lives.

As this year ends, will you seek a new beginning for your life?