Bible study Archives - Kristina Lunde

How are your 2025 New Year’s resolutions going? (Yeah, I hate that question, too.) I mean, good for you if you’re still working on the goals you set for yourself in January. And even better yet if, two months into 2025, you still keep your New Year’s resolutions and make progress toward your end-points.

But that’s not for me. I don’t keep up the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. After the fatigue of holiday planning, gift-buying, and hosting, I don’t want more goal-oriented expectations as the new year starts. Instead, I loved what Christina Fennell, my children’s book editor at Pencil Shavings Editorial Services, suggested.

In her January newsletter, Christina presented a great alternative to New Year’s resolutions. Describing her frustration and fatigue after the December holidays, she chose to view January as a planning month. Instead of the “struggle to gain momentum on new goals,” she used the month for “rest and reflection” on the upcoming year. To me, that sounded like more of an overall refresh than a list of New Year’s resolutions.

What a great perspective! Like Christina, I am not ready to jump into new goals after the busy pace of December. But Christina’s idea of a reset sounds wise. For me, I would rather develop perspective and consider ideas for the upcoming year without finalizing plans or setting deadlines. As I thought about what Bible verse would best fit that rest and refresh, Acts 3:19 came to mind.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19

Before applying this verse, I want to put it into biblical context. In Acts 3, Peter spoke healing to a lame man in Jesus’s name and then addressed the miracle’s eyewitnesses. Peter identified Jesus as the Holy Righteous One and gave all credit to Him for the healing (Acts 3:14, 16). Chastising his fellow Israelites, Peter accused them of disowning Jesus and handing Him over to be killed (Acts 3:13-15). He reminded these Israelites of the Old Testament history that pointed to the Messiah. He spoke of God’s covenant with Abraham and the promises given by prophets like Moses and Samuel (Acts 3:18-25). Acts 3:11-26 records Peter’s message as he first identified the Israelites’ sins. Peter then confirmed Jesus as the Messiah, reminding the crowd that God’s covenant with Abraham would bless all people.

Wedged between Peter’s harsh message of murderous accusations and ignored prophetic messages is a call to action. Acts 3:19 presents the solution that applied to the Israelites in that crowd and also applies to us now. When we recognize our sin, our response should be to repent and turn to God. Then God will forgive, wiping out our sins like a disinfectant bleach wipe swipes through bathtub scum. Not only does our Lord offer forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but He gives times of refreshing.

That is the New Year’s refresh and reset that I need. When the Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin, I need to pay attention and repent. Repentance means that I make a U-turn from my selfish pursuits and return to God in humility and obedience. When I ask for forgiveness, I don’t presume any personal merit. All I can do is ask Jesus to forgive me because He died on the cross to pay the price. Only His sacrifice can wipe my sins out, or in King David’s words, “blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1). Blotting, wiping, swiping—it’s an instant reset. And then He refreshes. When Jesus forgives the sin that stands between me and Him, I am restored to fellowship with Him. And that refresh sets me back on the path to my goal of following Jesus wholeheartedly.

More than a resolution, Acts 3:19 outlines God’s refresh: turn to God and repent. Then, receive His forgiveness and let Him refresh you. That is a great plan for any time of year! What a faithful, loving God to offer us His refresh, not just for New Year’s, but for anytime and all-time.

Written across two testaments by two writers, the resurrections in 1 Kings 17:17-24 and Luke 7:11-17 share similarities in their accounts of two widows, two sons, and one powerful God.

In the Old Testament account of 1 Kings 17:17-24, the prophet Elijah knew the widow and her son well. The widow of Zarephath and her son experienced God’s miracle of provision in their destitute situation (1 Kings 17:7-16). As a recipient of the widow’s hospitality, Elijah stayed in their upper room during much of the drought. In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus came upon a procession with a widow, her dead son, and a large crowd from the town of Nain. Although a seemingly random encounter, Luke records Jesus’ response to the widow as “his heart went out to her” (Luke 7:13). Each widows’ heartache and poverty would have been obvious in her community. In their cultures, the fatherless son was designated as his widowed mother’s caretaker, with the expectation that he would work and provide for her.

As a prophet, Elijah had a reputation for speaking God’s Word and being an instrument for God’s miracles. When the widow of Zarephath’s only beloved son died, Elijah grabbed the body. He ran up to his room, laid the child on his bed, and cried out to God in prayer. In contrast, the Luke account begins as Jesus walks through Galilee with his entourage of disciples and a large crowd. Luke 6 describes how Jesus chose his disciples, healed people of diseases, and preached to the crowds. Until then, in all of His miracles, Jesus had never yet resurrected anyone from the dead.

The settings may vary, but similarities exist across these accounts. Elijah prayed and God resurrected the widow’s son. Jesus, in full kingdom authority, resurrected the deceased man, speaking words of life. “Young man, I say to you, get up!” Both sons came back to life. Elijah witnessed God’s miracle of resurrection, whereas Jesus Himself performed the miracle. Elijah and Jesus each presented the resurrected sons to their widowed mothers.

Both miracles demonstrated God’s power over death. A grieving and questioning Elijah experienced God’s compassionate miracle for the widow of Zarephath after her son died. In the town of Nain, a large local crowd, twelve disciples, and the crowd following Jesus through Galilee witnessed Jesus’ miracle of resurrection. Although both towns are mentioned in these resurrection accounts, neither the widows nor their sons are mentioned by name.

Where is the follow-up information? I want to hear about those unnamed sons: one young boy and one young man. Their resurrected lives shone as enduring reminders of God’s resurrection power. Did the young boy grow up and become a baker in Zarephath who told his story to all of his customers? Were people compelled to turn from Baal to God as they witnessed God’s compassion and miraculous life-giving power?

Did the widow in Nain recount God’s miracles of provision through the resurrection of her grown son? Jesus’ first miracle of resurrection demonstrated His compassion for the widows and fatherless, while undeniably demonstrating Messiah’s authority. Did the Nain community later recognize that the resurrection of the widow’s son foreshadowed the Messiah Jesus’ resurrection?

God intervened with His compassion and almighty power for the unnamed widows in 1 Kings 17 and Luke 7. These two widows experienced the omnipotent power of God, as He miraculously raised their respective sons from the dead.

God’s Way to a New Year’s Refresh

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19

Two Widows, Two Sons and One Powerful God