Every year brings along added experiences on our pilgrimage in life.  Courage and confidence are always essential for the optimist who is desire positive experiences of life.  You need God in these perilous times.  You need faith in God to realize the good this year has to offer.  You also need a close walk with God in your pilgrimage across the deserts of life.  The Psalmist has an assurance of God's goodness and mercy regardless of what might be happening around him.  David said “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me...” Psalm 23:4).  The confidence that David reposed in God gave him the courage to triumph over the storms of life.  He could say with perfect assurance that “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

My dear youngster, this year is another gift to you. It is a year full of opportunities and challenges.  A year of service, a year of success.  A year full of God's goodness and mercy.  You must make the Lord your shepherd, like David, to enjoy the goodness of the Lord.  The negative experiences of the past will be forgotten as you take this important decision.  Turn over your life to God today in genuine repentance and be reconciled to the true shepherd of your soul.

Challenge:       God is the true Shepherd of the soul

Prayer:             May I never stray away from your care, oh God.