I love a new year! I love the opportunity to correct what went wrong in the previous year and to add new habits and practices for the upcoming year. But here is the problem: for most of us, by January 8th, we’re barely hanging on to one resolution while the others have already fallen away. And what happens to me, is I end up giving up on my year long resolution in January and then waiting for next year to come so that I can fix what’s still broken. In November and December, I start thinking about what I need to do differently for next year and then I anxiously await January 1st.
But the Bible tells us that the next January 1st may not come. And Jesus doesn’t tell us to take up our cross annually and follow him. He says, “Take up your cross daily.” Every day is a chance to do it better than the day before. Every morning is an opportunity to practice new habits and live more like Jesus. And when I mess up, I don’t have to wait weeks or months to start again, I simply need to go to sleep. When I wake up, there it is, an opportunity to begin again. The Bible says that God’s compassion for us is new every morning. God sees each new day as a fresh chance to show us His love. And we need to start seeing each new day as a fresh chance to love Him and love others better than we did the day before.
