ONE AFTER THE OTHER, the Bible tells the stories of ordinary people who started their lives over again—not with diets, self–help manuals, personal five–plans, or New Year's resolutions—but with God as their center, focus, and trust. These new beginnings transformed their natures and made God a practical presence in their lives. Imbued with a clearer sense of His nearness and power, they were able to reach out and change the world around them.
One of the Bible's first accounts of such a radical life change is the story of Abraham. Searching for something he couldn't find in his native land, Abraham abandoned his family's home in Mesopotamia, their idol–worship, and the great Mesopotamian cities of his age to look for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb 11:10. He started life over in a land that later became known as Israel, and there he learned to worship only "the most high God," fathering the three great monotheistic traditions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, Eventually, Abraham came to know this one true God so well that history calls him "the Friend of God." James 2:23.
Another example of a God–centered new beginning is that of Moses. After murdering a man, Moses fled a life of privilege in the courts of Egypt to become a shepherd. His new life led him to a better understanding of God as the great I AM. Eventually Moses, God–inspired, led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into their own land. The Bible makes this comment on Moses' regenerated character: "The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." Num 12:3.
