Happy "New" Year!
So here we are, a new blank year stretching out before us like verdant rolling hills although now blanketed with pristine snow. This day begins a year’s worth of days in which things will be different because it is a “NEW” year.I’ve done remarkably well in this New Year with all the resolutions I subconsciously make and consciously don’t admit. So far I’ve both eaten and acted well! Although the only exercise I’ve engaged in is the current jumping (sounds aerobic doesn’t it?) of my fingers on the laptop keys as I’ve been awake all of five minutes and am still in bed, covers up to my chin…Every year I think about how ludicrous it is to start a new year after an indulgent and late night celebration of the ending of the old; especially as I am one who is barely coherent after ten p.m.(seriously, ask anyone who’s trying to converse with me after that magic hour, it’s quite comical I’m told!)
We love “NEW”.
Packaged with everything "NEW" is a measure of hope that with the “NEW” will come “IMPROVED”; that this “NEW” thing will make the current things better. We know this in an over the top way from the Billy May’s style infomercial but it’s a hope we quietly hold every time we acquire something. That this new hair cut will make me look better, or this new gadget will improve the prep time in the kitchen, or clean up time throughout the house or the quality of the sound system or my organizational systems so that now I will be able to find my keys…
And now look at us; here we are with a whole NEW YEAR! (and without any shipping and handling costs!) Will this year be improved? Will it be better? Will it live up to the conscious and unconscious expectations we have for it or will it be as disappointing as some of those impulsive late night TV watching purchases, that once unwrapped, turn out to be not at all what was expected?
We won’t know those answers until 364 days from now but what we do know is that God is in the business of “NEW”.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Revelation 21:5
How is this possible?
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27
Can this then be our response?
“'Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” Jeremiah 32:17
A new year is too large of a chunk of time for me to take in all at once. So I will simply remember this, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22, 23
However "New and Improved" I manage to be today (after I get out of bed) is still yet to be determined, however there is a day’s worth of God’s love just waiting to help me through it, and it will also be there tomorrow, and the day after that, and...so with that in mind, Happy New Year!
Packaged with everything "NEW" is a measure of hope that with the “NEW” will come “IMPROVED”; that this “NEW” thing will make the current things better. We know this in an over the top way from the Billy May’s style infomercial but it’s a hope we quietly hold every time we acquire something. That this new hair cut will make me look better, or this new gadget will improve the prep time in the kitchen, or clean up time throughout the house or the quality of the sound system or my organizational systems so that now I will be able to find my keys…
And now look at us; here we are with a whole NEW YEAR! (and without any shipping and handling costs!) Will this year be improved? Will it be better? Will it live up to the conscious and unconscious expectations we have for it or will it be as disappointing as some of those impulsive late night TV watching purchases, that once unwrapped, turn out to be not at all what was expected?
We won’t know those answers until 364 days from now but what we do know is that God is in the business of “NEW”.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Revelation 21:5
How is this possible?
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27
Can this then be our response?
“'Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” Jeremiah 32:17
A new year is too large of a chunk of time for me to take in all at once. So I will simply remember this, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22, 23
However "New and Improved" I manage to be today (after I get out of bed) is still yet to be determined, however there is a day’s worth of God’s love just waiting to help me through it, and it will also be there tomorrow, and the day after that, and...so with that in mind, Happy New Year!
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