Is anyone else grateful for new days? What I mean is, there are a lot of mornings I wake up and sincerely say “Thank You Lord” simply because it’s a new day and a fresh start.

Interestingly, the word new means not existed before. That would certainly be true of a new day. As the calendar slowly rolls over, each day is showing up for the first time in history– never existed before.

With that in mind, look at how beautiful this verse is: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

What’s new every day? God’s mercies.

It’s good to understand what scripture means by mercy. In the Old Testament, mercy is the Hebrew word hesed which describes God’s commitment to His covenant. Some translations will read compassion or loving devotion. My favorite is faithful love.

His faithful love fails not.

It doesn’t get stale, moldy, or dried out. It’s new and fresh every single day. His faithful love just shows up each morning in a fresh new batch for everyone who turns to Him!

This should remind us of the manna in Exodus 16 where God provided bread from heaven for all the Israelites. The only instruction they had was this: Gather enough for each person per day (no more, no less). God promised that each morning there would be a new batch for them. And because the Lord honored Sabbath rest, He told them to get a double portion the day before the Sabbath but all the other days, only enough for the day.

“But they didn’t listen… a few of the them kept back some of it until morning. It got wormy and smelled bad” (Exodus 16:20 MSG).

The lesson here is you don’t have to live on yesterday’s mercy.

Too often, we tank up for the week thinking it’ll be enough, not realizing it’s not the quantity that mattered. It’s the relationship.

The Lord wants to meet with us each day. He loves to hear from us– to know our heart, our cares, our joys, our concerns. And in reply, “His compassions fail not.” (Notice it’s plural.) Paul told Timothy, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). In other words, this is simply who God is– merciful, compassionate, and faithful. Even if we fail, He can’t.

Jesus knew this. It’s why He instructed His disciples to pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…” (Matthew 6:9-11). This day. Not yesterday. Not even tomorrow (yet).

Give us this day our daily bread.

Can I just remind you that no one feels guilty when they don’t eat every day. They feel hungry! And that’s how we are spiritually too. God created us to feel hungry for His presence every single day; which is also why He provides new mercies each day. He wants spiritual hunger to draw our hearts to His.

I for one am grateful each new day. I need Him and I know it. Every single day.