All Things New

Are you easing into the new year or taking it by storm? I am still wrapping my head around the idea that we are in a new year. Where did the last one go?  How are those New Year’s resolutions going? I will be honest and say I gave up on New Year’s resolutions a long time ago. I think I know what my New Year’s resolutions should be. Most of us have to eat better, sleep better, exercise more on our list. Some of us may also add to read my Bible more, pray more, do a Bible study. All good things. However, why are they on the list every year? If you are like me and a recovering perfectionist, I would make it to the end of a year and be disappointed that I once again did not accomplish my New Year’s resolutions. And once again make the same resolutions. I don’t know about you, but this method doesn’t seem very effective. In fact, it becomes increasingly more frustrating. 

Why is it so hard to change? I think because change is uncomfortable. We become accustomed to doing things a certain way even if they are not good for us, and we just revert back to those ways. It has been scientifically proven that even in our thinking we have well worn paths of thought that become somewhat like ruts. It takes effort to leave those paths and develop new ways of thinking about ideas and concepts and life.

Jesus knew that we as humans sometimes have difficulty with new things. It is difficult to let go of ideas we may have always believed and jump into a different way of thinking. He addressed this while He was on Earth. The Pharisees held tight to their religious ideologies. They had been taught these concepts for generations. The problem is they had begun to worship religion over God. So much so they did not recognize God when He stood in front of them. They had an idea in their head of who God was and is and what He would do when He finally came to Earth. They could not comprehend that He would look and act so differently than what they had thought. And they had a very difficult time questioning if maybe they were wrong. In fact, Jesus so threatened their deeply held beliefs that they plotted and were eventually successful in arresting and killing Jesus. 

Looking at the Pharisees in the Bible gives me pause. We are talking about people who knew the Word of God extremely well. They were the experts. They were the ones responsible for teaching others about the Word of God, and they could not recognize Jesus when they stood face to face with Him. I sometimes wonder if I ever do that. When have I dismissed something as not God because in my view God wouldn’t move or operate like that. I am not sure why we think we can take the God of the universe and give Him rules and parameters in which to operate. I think it has to do with comfort. If I can give God rules in which to live by and move, then I don’t have to be uncomfortable. I don’t think we do this and are fully aware we are doing it. I am sure the Pharisees also saw what they were doing as protecting their people from someone who they viewed as a fraud. You know who else they were protecting? Themselves. Jesus potentially threatened everything they believed in. He threatened their very identity.

In Matthew 9, Jesus talks about the importance of new ways of thinking in parable form. Beginning in verse 16 in the Passion Translation Jesus says, “And who would mend worn-out clothing with new fabric? When the new cloth shrinks it will rip, making the hole worse than before. Vs 17 And who would pour fresh, new wine into an old wineskin? Eventually the wine will ferment and make the wineskin burst, losing everything – the wine is spilled and the wineskin ruined. Instead new wine is always poured into a new wineskin so that both are preserved.”

Jesus came to the Earth to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins so that we all might be restored to right relationship with God. He did not come to make religion better or to reinforce the rules of religion. He came to reestablish the relationship. To try and take the teachings of Jesus and to reinforce or patch religion was not what Jesus came to establish on the Earth. He came to establish His kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven. He wanted to set us free from religion and reinforce relationships. However in order to do that, people had to open their hearts and minds to the new thing God wanted to do.

The same is still true today. The Bible is the Living Word of God. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, God is also always creating and making things new. We cannot seek to control God by putting Him in a box that is comfortable for us. We have to recognize that God alone sees the big picture and God alone is all knowing. We have to be willing to live in relationship with Him and be willing to hear His voice and be willing to move with Him. We also have to be willing to trust Him. When God is ready to do something new in our lives, we need to be willing to let go of the old ways of thinking in order to embrace where God wants to take us. 

Remember friend, God is always for you, never against you. He wants you to live a victorious and abundant life. He paid the ultimate sacrifice to be in a relationship with you. Jeremiah 33:3 says (NKJV) “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” God is inviting you to act in faith and call out to Him. He promises He will answer. 

I invite you this year to ask God what He wants to do in your life. Sit with HIm and let HIm tell you how amazing you are and how much He loves you. Then, instead of writing down a to do list or a list of goals or resolutions, ask God how you can partner with Him this year. How does He want to show up in your life this year? What can you do to be an open and willing vessel to accomplish that? Maybe there are health goals involved, but what does God say about how to accomplish those goals? Maybe there are parts of the Bible He wants you to focus on this year. Maybe there are prayers He wants you to specifically pray over your family, neighborhood, communities. Maybe there are places and situations He wants you to get involved in this year. Our good ideas can be limitless. However, if you ask God where He wants you to focus your time and energy this year, it will be an amazing and unstoppable partnership. And just imagine what you could learn along the way in a wonderful journey in partnership with God!

I pray this is the best year yet for you and your family and that you experience God this year like you never have before. He loves you more than you can understand and truly desires the best for you!