Happy New Year!
I love the new year. I love the idea of all things being made new. I see so much potential. I confess I am tired of the brokenness of this world and the broken hearts that inevitably follow. Bring on the new.
During a particularly painful time in my life, I learned something “new” about myself. I was sharing with a friend my plan to tear out the tile floor in my house and install a new one. Without missing a beat, she said, “You don’t want a new floor; you want your life fixed. A new floor won’t fix your feelings of brokenness.”
It was a cold, hard truth, but she was right. I was looking for something new as a substitute for the brokenness in my life.
Since then, I have considered my friend’s comment at various times throughout my life. It seems I tend to seek out things to fix when my world feels especially broken. Over the years, however, God has continued teaching me not to be distracted by the “new and now” but to pursue the new and lasting.
I was looking for something new as a substitute for the brokenness in my life.
I think my love of all things new makes the promises of Scripture so appealing. God’s Word promises His compassions “are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23). God “has given us new birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). And, of course, who could forget the great promise of Revelation 21:5? “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”
Say no more; I am in! How long, O Lord, before you make all things new?
As we wait for God’s sure and certain promises to be fulfilled, how do we properly navigate the very real tension we feel of living in a broken world while simultaneously longing for a new and lasting reality?
As you start this new year, consider three opportunities you have to bring lasting, eternal newness to each new day.
1. Be made new in the attitude of your mind
Today is a great day to forgive those who have hurt you, to encourage someone who is hurting, to confess your bitterness, to turn the other cheek, or to hold your tongue in that conversation (yes, you know which one!). Each day is an opportunity to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
2. Sing to the Lord a new song
Today is a great day to ascribe to the Lord the glory He is due. This is more than just playing worship music when you get ready in the morning. To ascribe to the Lord the glory He is due is to change your entire vocabulary and perspective on life. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Words filled with hope and praise flow forth from hearts of praise. Grumbling, complaining, and even pessimism in our speech do not ascribe to the Lord the glory He is due. These simply reveal the condition of our hearts. Today is a great day to sing to the Lord a new song!
3. Proclaim the good news of the kingdom
Today is a great day to proclaim—in word and deed—the good news of the kingdom of God. Bring words of hope and peace into hard situations. Bring love to the broken and hurting. Like the apostles, dedicate yourself to teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Write Scripture on your heart. Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have.
Today is a great day to begin practicing each of these attitudes and actions.
And this is where BSF comes in. Through BSF’s daily study rhythm, weekly discussion, and in-depth teaching, we are inspired by God’s Word to seek the new and lasting every day. In a culture utterly inundated with more information than we could possibly ingest, we must intentionally seek out, reflect on, and readily share with others the only information that has true, lasting, and eternal impact. This is why BSF exists.
Each day, you face steady competition for your precious and limited time. How you spend your days throughout this year will ultimately shape who you become by the end of this year!
Will you join me in making the most of each day this year, even as Jesus makes all things new?