Here's to new beginnings

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3-2-1.....”Happy New Football season!!!!” Firecrackers explode, the air is saturated with confetti, and balloons are burst open to usher in the football madness once again. Off course, there is no holiday like new football season but it’s a day of celebration in its own right if you ask millions of football fans over the globe.

The long wait is over for them and we can be reunited with our old buddy, SuperSport; following the likes of Chelsea, Manutd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and so many more. Like the New Year’s festivities, with people making resolutions left, right and centre, confident of success; so it is with the start of the new season.

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Confidence among teams is sky-high. There is a lot of chest-thumping going about as fans and players stake their claims to the bragging rights come the end of the season.  It beggars belief  that  Chelsea won the EPL with such consummate ease given recent events of pre-season. Optimism is in plenty amongst other sides that a repeat of last season’s walk in the park for Chelsea is unlikely and it should be.

Arsenal have finally solved their goalkeeping head-ache by buying Cech. Manutd have bolstered their midfield with the acquisition of Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin and further additions in Romero, Depay and Darmian make them a formidable unit. Liverpool has got versatile and dynamic work horse, James Milner while Manchester City now boast the presence of the explosive Raheem Sterling. All these teams  must have serious title aspirations not just based on their summer acquisitions but the fact that it is a new season. They have a clean slate and have been afforded a golden opportunity to write another chapter in their history.

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Like every new season comes, bringing much hope and excitement of the future, I can’t help but think how Jesus gives us new mercies every day. He gives us a chance to start over again and urges us to boldly step forward and walk this exciting new adventure with him.

For so long we have been prisoners of our past, scared to move because we are peering over our shoulders to look back at the mistakes we have left behind. We are haunted by the ghosts of our past sins, scared we will make them again. Yet, Christ through his death and resurrection, freed us from our sins and gave everybody who trusts and believes in his gift of salvation and repents, a  chance to re-write their life-tale rather than relive the regret of a sorry past.

It’s so common for people to define themselves by what they did wrong. They go on to label themselves a mistake and wallow in self-pity. Christ’s grace is exceedingly abundant and he gives new opportunities to start over for those who seek him.

What’s beautiful about this, is that this new shots in life are free for all so long as we come to him, repentant and eager to start afresh. It is available to that man who deserted his wife and kids, and was listed on Dead Beat. It is available to the lady who ignored Nerea and went ahead with the abortion. It is a chance that is readily available to the man who watched porn and then masturbated for the umpteenth time. It is open to the guy who has cut so many deals to work his way to the top. It is available to the guy who drinks himself silly and is yearning to stop. It is available to the lady who is in a relationship solely for financial reasons at the expense of her dignity.

I can go on and on because really that’s how gracious and merciful God is. Whatever you’ve done, whoever you have become, He died on that cross to free you from it and give you a new season in life with him as Lord. Nobody is beyond renewal, nobody is unsalvageable or incorrigible to Christ. Like 1 Peter 3:18 states,  "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit.

For those who believe this and have accepted him, this is the result;  2 Corinthians 5:17:  Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

A new shot at life, free from the crippling grip of yesterday's sins awaits those who confess and surrender to Christ. Like The Arsenals, Manutds, Liverpools, a new season in life beckons, not the same tired script of last year. Christ made sure of that, that you are no-longer a slave of your sins, you are free, you are new, you have a new season in life, a clean slate to write a new chapter in your life, so seize it. Here's to new beginnings!!!

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