A New Life in a New Year





A New Life in a New Year

This time of year, many of us take time to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. Sometimes we say we will lose weight, exercise more, spend more time with family, give up bad habits, and so forth. I would like to do all those things and more. 

But as I look over previous years, I find that resolutions are hard to keep, and I often give up too soon. The problem is, I try to do things in my own strength and my own wisdom instead of in the strength and wisdom that God provides. As we go into this new year, let us pray for God's strength and read the scriptures to gain God's wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 says:

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

 Today I want to look at promises and principles from the Bible to help us:
Learn from the past; Live in the present; Long for the future;

1. Learn From the Past

We don't want to ignore the past. The past has many things to teach us. Whether it comes out of our joys or our sorrows, our successes or our failures, our wisdom or our follies, our health or our sicknesses, the past is something we can treasure and learn from. But while we can learn from the past, we must not linger in the past. We should not dwell in the past.

 There are two wrong ways to dwell in the past. One is to always be longing for the "good old days" and never finding joy and satisfaction in the here and now. The other is to be so full of bitterness and an unforgiving spirit that we can't move on and heal relationships in the present. It is good to remember the past so we can learn from it. It is also good to "forget" so we can move on.

Paul brings to mind the sins of the children of Israel, as well as the consequences that fell on them. Then he says in 1 Corinthians 10:11 ...
  • Now, these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.
Everything that has been written down in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible was written for our instruction so that we would have the wisdom to make good choices, and so that we would have the comfort from God that we are forgiven, and that He will never leave us.
  • “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19
God says “See, “I” am doing a new thing”. If we are to succeed in the Christian life, we need to do things God’s way, in God’s strength, through God’s mercy, according to God’s plan. Too often we try to do things our way and fail. Paul never denied that he was a sinner, in fact, he called himself the "chief of all sinners". But he did not wallow in his sin. He put it all behind him: 
  • Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
Don’t dwell on the past. Learn from it, but don’t linger in it. Determine to leave all the baggage behind. Then strive for the goal and the prize.

2. Live in the Present

  • “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  2 Corinthians 5:17
To be “in Christ” means that we have trusted in Him alone for our salvation. Nothing but the death of Christ on the cross can pay the penalty for our sins. Nothing but the blood He shed can wash our sins away. Nothing but His resurrection can give us victory over sin and death and Hell. If we are “in Christ” we are new creations. We are born again. The old has passed; the new has come.

 When we are saved by the grace of God, God makes us a new creation and gives us a new heart. This new heart desires to follow the laws of God.
  • “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”  Ezekiel 36:26-28
This verse says God will “move you to follow my decrees”. Does God move on your heart to do His decrees? Do you have an inner desire to put off sins and sinful habits of the past? Do you have a new love for your fellow man that moves you to do good deeds towards them? If we have the Spirit of God living in our hearts, He will move on us to obey His commands. If we are a new creation, with a new heart, we need to put off the old man and put on the new man.
  • You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  Ephesians 4:22-24
There are three commands in this verse. Put off your old self. Be made new. Put on the new self. These are deliberate choices. Not once for all, but daily, sometimes hourly, moment by moment. We will not always succeed, we will often fail, so we need God’s mercies that are new every morning.
  • 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
Day by day we need God’s mercy to forgive our sins. We also need to have His strength renewed in us.

3. Long for the Future

When I talk about longing for the future I'm not just talking about Heaven. I'm talking about having hope and joy here on Earth. There was a time when I was so depressed that I did not care about my future. I wanted to die. I didn't want to kill myself; it wasn't that bad. But I wanted to just slip away and go home to Jesus. 

 I no longer feel that way. I am past 65 years old, semi-retired, I have diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. But I want to be around to take care of my wife and enjoy my children and grandchildren.  I want to see my grandchildren married and having children of their own. I want to be a ministry to people less fortunate than me. I want to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. I am ready to go be with my Savior whenever He wants to take me home. But I also want to serve Him in the present and the future.
  • For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.  Philippians 1:21-24
I am encouraged by these words from Isaiah 40:28-31 ...

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grows weary
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might, he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, God has given all who believe a "new birth" and a "living hope". 
  • Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
Let us learn from the past, live in the present and long for the future.

 Pray. To have a “New life in the new year”.

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