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Devotional for April 1, 2020

Every Time

"But I trust in you, LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands." (Psalm 31:14-15a NIV)

One theory as to how today, April Fools' Day, first came to be observed is that up until a certain point during the European Middle Ages, the first day of the new year was celebrated on April 1st. Presumably, this was because the new Spring season, with new birth and new growth, was considered the most logical time to celebrate the new year, especially in an agriculturally-based society. At some point, however, the custom changed to celebrating the new year on January 1st. Even then, most places in Europe were slow to adopt January 1st as New Year's Day; indeed, January 1st was not officially the first day of the new year until it was instituted by royal decree in 1564. The theory states that those who celebrated New Year's Day on January 1st would mock those who, either by tradition or stubbornness, persisted in celebrating New Year's Day on April 1st, usually by playing pranks on them. 

 The custom of playing pranks continued, but the original purpose became lost over time. Even so, although the western calendar may mark New Year's Day as being January 1st, many religions and cultures continue to mark the beginning of the new year on various other dates.

 No matter how we may mark time, we know to whom it belongs. God created time, and existed before time. He caused our existence to come into being, and He has prepared eternal life to be spent with Him. But He created us not only to have us exist, and then step back: He is actively involved with us at every moment in every place. Nothing can separate us from Him. 

 In fact, this is why He sent His Son: to be God active and involved with us, as a human being, yet also God. He also sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise again to make sure that everything which separated us from Him, especially sin, could be fully removed. We remain close to Him at all times, even though we may not always feel so. It is even and especially at those moments when we feel far away from God that He is actually closest to us. We remain under His constant loving and watchful care. We can trust that He is always with us, never leaves us, and is always involved and active in our everyday lives. He is also involved in every moment of the world, active in history, working to bring an end to disaster, especially the pandemic. He cares for the whole world, so He is active in every minute and hour of it. We can trust that He cares for us, and all our times are in His hands.

 Dear God, thank you that at every moment, in every place, you are always with me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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