Saturday, December 31, 2022

December 31, 2022

II Corinthians 5: 17 (NIV)
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!
Jesus doesn’t just make us better, he makes us new.*
It’s New Year’s Eve. Do you have a list of resolutions for the upcoming year? Perhaps you know better than to compile a list containing more than one item. Your chances of success are much better if you keep it simple. Lose weight. Exercise. Overcome a bad habit. Start a good habit. Be nicer to your family. Find a new job. Hopefully all of these aren’t on your list!

We see the beginning of a new year as an opportunity to start fresh. With the turn of the calendar, it seems easier to release the burden of our failures and be optimistic about our chances for success. For those who are in Christ Jesus, every day is the beginning of a clean record. I don’t have to lug around guilt and disappointments from the past because they belong to the old me. I may have messed up yesterday but Jesus’ blood is the eraser that wipes my slate clean – again.

While Jesus forgives and forgets, I don’t have the luxury of amnesia to go with my new identity. And that’s a good thing. I carry with me the memories of my past sins but that means I also remember that Jesus carried those sins. Constant awareness of the price he paid motivates me to keep working on my list of resolutions – daily. Hourly. Minute by minute!

Happy New Year!
Despite our past, God can give us a new identity.*

1 comment:

  1. Amen Connie. This is Mark Gray, Happy New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete