Old clothes, old newspapers, old wives tales, old bread... Sometimes the idea of something being old is closely connected to the thought of its
being just a step away from the rubbish heap, along with other useless, or
ruined and discarded things.
And the idea of something being new is often such a positive thing: a new house, a fresh start, a new day, a clean slate. Its encouraging to think of a day “without any mistakes in it yet”.
When we look at January first on the Calendar, a lot of us think of all
the ways we are going to start off the New Year right. Maybe you might
make some resolutions. Enrollment in health clubs and gyms is up in
January, as well as classes and courses for self improvement of all sorts.
People want to put last year’s failures behind them, along with the unmet
expectations of the Holidays, and get the new year off to a good start.
Good plan! Let’s take a look at what God says. “Old things are passed away, all things are become new”, “Sing a new song unto the Lord”: He
promises us a “New Heaven and a New Earth”.
Of course, age alone is seldom the best means of determining whether or not something is worth keeping. Unless its leftovers in the refrigerator,
there are other things to consider. Heirlooms, good wine, historic
artifacts, treasured words: these are often more precious because of the
mileage on them. I once heard a man say, “Of course that’s an old saying!
Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s no good! If it wasn’t any good,
people would have thrown it out long ago. Its because that old saying is
true that people are still saying it!”
Let’s look at the Real start of things: The creation of the world, and the First words of the Bible: “In the Beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth”. That is where the secret is: “In the Beginning, GOD”. The
little mealtime blessing we said so long ago was one of the first
truths we learned: “God is Great. God is Good”. Jesus said it: “Why do you
call me Good? Only God is Good”. The Good of something New is often the
Glory that God gives to it. Hey, the Good of something Old is often the
Glory that God gives to it.
Okay, okay, this is not anything you haven’t heard before. For the
Christian, this is Faith 101. Maybe you took that class long ago. But it
is the start of a new year. A Christian I know said to me once, “No, I
don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I should honor the Lord all year.
Every day is new”. And Maybe that is where it really becomes personal.
The choices we make on January first are important. But we make choices a
hundred times a day: what to do, where to go, who to be with, how to spend
our time, money, our thoughts. In these mundane, everyday things, the
Good of any one of them is the Glory that God gives to it.
Oh, “Old habits are hard to break.” Yes , but a habit is something so
automatic that there is no decision making going on. No, the decision
making took place long ago, many times over, and now a pattern is
established.
So, Christian, shake the dust off of your thoughts about the New Year.
Take a look at today, every day. Maybe you don’t need a new Year's
Resolution. Maybe you need to resolve each hour to honor the Lord.
