New Year, Same God
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:8)
Happy New Year! What a verse to start on right? As we welcome the new year, we celebrate one more year of going around the sun, we’ve made it! We also celebrate the new year by trying to renew ourselves too. New Year, new me. Or so the saying goes. Have you ever tried to make a New Years resolution? How did you go at keeping it? Most likely, you’re in the same boat as me and the rest of the world. That is, whether it’s towards the start of the year or through the year, we either give up or get too busy and that resolution gets shelved and forgotten.
Every year, we commit to some New Years Resolution to lose weight, exercise more, read more, go on a diet, learn a new hobby; maybe you’ve even tried to commit to reading the entire Bible in one year (I’ve tried this myself, but I have never made it through the entire year. By the grace of God, I pray that some day I will accomplish this). We buy equipment or passes, thinking “surely spending money on this will make it harder for me to quit.” Yet year after year, there are endless Marketplace and Gumtree listings of brand new gym equipment and gym passes, among other things, come February. You might be guilty of this yourself, I know I have been.
So, if we’re honest with ourselves, it never really is “New Year, new me.” This tradition dates back centuries, so take comfort that you are not alone in this. As the Teacher in Ecclesiastes reminds us over and over again “there is nothing new under the sun.” Is there any hope? The end of Ecclesiastes holds the answer:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
This gives us three reasons to look forward to the incoming year with hope:
1) There is only one thing that matters: how God sees us.
“The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:23-25)
Good news! When God looks at us as Christians, He sees Christ’s righteousness. This means that our value is fixed, not changing with our failures and successes.
2) God doesn’t change!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Even though we get frustrated when we don’t change the things we wish we could, we can take comfort knowing God never will. His promises don’t change, neither does His character or His salvation plan.
3) As Christians, the Holy Spirit is working in us to make us more like Him!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a).
If the Holy Spirit is in us, there will be fruit, though some fruits may take longer to develop.
So, in this 2026th Year of our Lord, and in view of God’s mercy, let’s make some attainable goals together:
1) Go to church more – meet with God’s people regularly
2) Read God’s Word more – hear God speak to you
3) Pray more – Speak to God
Brothers and sisters, take comfort knowing that God works, even in spite of us, and so we can freely “fear God and keep His commandments” and know that “God will bring every deed into judgement”.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
Lochy
