One Month to a Better Year

You’ve probably heard lots of one-month promises. One month to lose weight. One month to learn a language. One month to straighten up your house or straighten up your finances or straighten up your life!

But did you know that The Chosen People have clung to a very special one-month promise for thousands of years?

During the Hebrew month of Elul, which we’re in right now, there’s an ancient biblical Jewish practice—one that Jesus likely participated in. During this month, the Jewish people prepare themselves spiritually for the High Holy Days, which begin with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and conclude on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For generations of Jewish people, this special month has long laid the groundwork for real and lasting change.

And today, Yael looks to the Bible to explain how this month can connect us to God, nourish our souls, and make spiritual changes that last, setting us up for a successful year to come and a blessed life ahead!

Episode Notes:

Today, Yael looks to the Bible to talk about the importance of one month. Our Scripture is found in Deuteronomy 21:10-13:

“When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.”

Of course, these laws don’t apply to us in the same way that they applied to people during Bible times. But God’s Word is still eternal, and there are still lessons in these verses for us today.

True growth is a gradual process—a process that happens over time. You need more than a day or an hour to make meaningful changes. That’s why the Jewish people take the full month of Elul to lay the groundwork for real and lasting change. Join them this month—or whenever you listen—and set yourself up for blessings in the days, months, and year ahead.