Two-and-a-half hours to go until we ring in the New Year… I
suppose I should say “I”, as due to a number of mitigating circumstances I am spending
this New Year’s Eve alone. I am hunkered down in a hotel room in BC by myself while
my husband and kids are a few thousand feet up in the air returning from Christmas holidays
in Mexico. I can’t recall ever spending the last night of the year solo. Or the
day - the 700 km drive to get here left plenty of time for my mind to wonder
and wander.
I spent some of that time, while weaving through traffic on the
freeway and winding along mountain roads, musing about New Year’s resolutions. I’m
sure I made a few when I was younger – I do remember buying a gym membership
that was sadly under-used – but I have not made a habit of starting off a new
calendar year with a added ritual or a fresh plan of attack. January 1st doesn’t really
feel like the beginning of anything new. My life tends to revolve more around
the school calendar, the seasons, the church-year.
I suppose it seems a little silly to me that a new digit or
two can be the impetus for a new diet or budget or attitude. Especially when
our optimistic declarations collide with the beliefs of our superstitious society... how will our
best intentions survive a year fraught with two Friday-the-13ths, 12 full moons, 52 “I hate
Mondays” and nothing on the Mayan calendar at all? What happens when we consult our horoscopes, the
markets, Feng Shui, Oprah?!
If we follow the wisdom of the world we are bound to fail. But too often we turn to the world rather than the Word for truth. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1.18) According to our Father every
day is a fresh start, a new beginning if you decide to take hold of it. God
doesn’t wipe the slate clean once a year – His mercies are new every morning! (Lamentations
3.23)
The more I cease my striving to figure out how to fix me,
the more I am able to give myself to God. And that surrender is the first step
in true & lasting change and healing. It doesn’t matter what the date is,
where the stars are, or what is politically correct - it matters what God says. His promises that matter, not mine. So
rather than New Year’s resolutions, I am opting for daily confessions of His Word, His promises. I will remind myself what God says about me, whether I believe
it yet or not. Some of these things seem incredulous at times, but eventually
my mind will start to catch up to my spirit.
“I am a new creation.”
2 Corinthians 5.17
“I was created for a purpose.” Jeremiah 29:11
“I have the mind of Christ.” I Corinthians 2.16“I cast all my cares on Him.” 1 Peter 5.7
“I don’t worry about anything – I pray about everything.”
Philippians 4.6
“God chose me.” John 15.16
“Do not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. “Romans 12.2
