Yesterday, Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years and elected the first woman in history to be speaker of the House. Today's New York Times carries a significant story on the day's events. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California took the speaker's gavel at 2:08 P.M. from Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader.

Earlier in the day, Senator Harry Reid became majority leader and said, "Guided by the spirit of bipartisanship, Democrats are ready to take this country in a new direction." But the same problems still loom: fighting a global war on terror, confronting the civil war in Iraq, providing economic stability, dealing with rising crime rates. Was your life fulfilled and significant under Republican control? Will the Democrats be able to give your soul what it needs to find purpose and joy?

We've been seeking the keys to real peace and happiness in this new year. With all the uncertainties facing us, where can we turn for direction and fulfillment? We watched yesterday as Jesus touched the soul of a despised Samaritan woman (John 4), offering her a personal relationship with himself as her Lord and King. She was changed from a social leper to the evangelist of her entire village and one of the great heroes of Christian history and ministry.

So it can be with any of us. So it must be for all of us.

God has made us in such a way that we are not fulfilled and at peace unless we are right with him. His Son came at Christmas to face our temptations, feel our pain, and die on our cross. Only when we submit our lives to him as our King and Lord can our lives make sense. Only then does our heart find its home, our spirit its rest. Augustine said it well: "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

This surrender to Jesus as King and Lord is a daily decision we each must make each morning. Each day we are invited to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Each day we are called by our Father back into communion with him. Each day we are asked to yield that day to his purpose and power.

And so the Lord Jesus is standing at the door of your heart right now. There is no knob or handle on his side. Only one person can open the door to his presence, peace, and purpose. Have you answered his knock yet today?

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