I love newness. A new calendar, new goals, a new fresh start. I am excited to be in a new decade! Welcome to the 2020s people!
In NCBC Kids ministry, we begin this new year in a section of Scripture that understandably doesn’t get a lot of press in children’s Bible storybooks: The book of Obadiah.
That actually excites me quite a bit. How cool is it that our kids will be hearing from a part of the Bible with which us parents may not even be familiar?
The prophet Obadiah discusses a conflict between Edom and Israel that is like a long sibling rivalry. This is what can happen to people and families who do not learn how to manage conflict and forgive each other. That alone can serve as a good warning and teaching tool for our kids—and let’s face it—for ourselves.
But I also encourage you to lean into a larger concept we don’t like to think about in 2020s America: God’s justice and holy wrath. It is more comfortable to talk about God’s love and deliverance but that only tells a portion of the truth. This week is a great time to be reminded that it is only in God’s great mercy that we find the real hope of newness: a new creation, a new body, a new sinless nature. Because Jesus took on the punishment of God that we and Edom and Israel deserved, we get to have the deliverance and salvation of God. That’s the gospel and it is very good news.
