A New Year is always a good time to pause for reflection. I remember years ago my best friend and I figuring up how old we’d be when the year 2,000 would arrive, and we wondered if we’d ever live that long, and what we would be like if we did. Happily, we both made it to that milestone and beyond. What seemed so long away then doesn’t seem that far back now.
However, it does give one the opportunity to realize that with each passing year we draw closer to the time when our days here will end, and we become part of eternity. What seemed like at the time to be an endless supply of days in the future, now grows fewer and fewer. However, I should have realized even then, there is no guarantee on the number of days we have, even in our youth. As James reminds us, we are a vapor or mist that is here for a little while, and then vanishes away (James 4:14).
So, how does all this affect one’s perspective for a New Year? We should realize how important the number of our days are and live each day for the One who provides them to us. While we all have a life to live, it’s the height of selfishness to let each day pass by without considering God’s will for our lives for each day. He is both the Giver and Sustainer of our existence. Paul tells us, “For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). From beginning to end, life is a gift from God, and while we have the choice on how to live that life, it is foolish to live as if today will never end—to live solely for self and not for God.
For the Christian, Paul emphasizes the role faith is to play in our lives. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). From the time we obey the Gospel to the time we depart this physical existence, we are to live by faith. Living by faith is not doing what I please to do, but what the Father pleases for me to do.
When we live by faith, we allow God to mold and shape us in His image, to fill us with His blessings for life today, as well as prepare us for life eternally. This means considering what God’s will is in all our decisions and our choices, and making sure this is what is operative as the motive of our hearts in those choices. If God’s will is not part of consciousness in our lives, then we will receive input from various sources around us, which will be influenced by sin. We must get ourselves out of the way to allow God His part in us, to renew us in His image. This is what Paul did himself; “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
By making a conscious choice for God, we can have a great New Year, no matter the number of days we may have! We will have an abundant life in Christ (John 10:10), one strengthened by the Lord to face whatever comes our way (1 Corinthians 10:13). We will experience the fullness of His blessings, and be a blessing to those around us. We will have confidence that, no matter what happens in the world around us, we have the promises of God for eternity to cheer us, encourage us and motivate us. This New Year may be the best of years, or one not so great from a physical perspective, but it’s always great to be in the Lord. Our challenge isn’t to look just at the number of years for this life, as I did in my youth, but beyond to eternity. The best is yet to be!
