A New Year, A renewed commitment

"And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" -- Revelation 21:5

Why is New Year's Eve and New Year's Day such a big deal?  Have you thought about it?  A number changes, but aside from that, what's so important about the change between 2012 and 2013? 

Now, I'm not against celebrations, especially if it gives me an opportunity to hang with friends, eat good food, watch football, and think about what the Lord has done over the past year.  But why is New Year's so important that we have a massive celebration?  I mean, more money is put into this "New Year's" sequence than any other holiday I know, whether it's the ball dropping in times square, or the bowl games played the next morning.

I think the reason is very simple, and it's biblical.  "These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." -- Colossians 2:17 

In other words, The New Year is a shadow of the tangible person of Christ.  And we celebrate, I think, because we long for a new, transformed life, the new, eternal, life we are promised if we are in Christ.

Think about it, why else would we choose New Year's to be the time to make resolutions to change our lives?  We long to live in a better place, where the world and our own very lives is restored and redeemed.  So we make resolutions to try and better ourselves, with the hope that our lives and our world will be better.  But apart from Christ, we will never change for the better.  We can't change on our own.  That's why, while New Year's Resolutions are nice, they don't work.  I can't tell you how often my New Year's Resolution was to lose weight, and more often than not I gained it.  Christ, on the other hand, can AND WILL transform us to make us more holy and Godly if we are in Him.

So, In His power, I want to make my New Year's Resolution.  I want to commit myself to writing this blog once a week.  But I don't want to do it primarily because it's trendy.  I don't want to do it primarily because it might impact a lot of people.  I don't even want to write primarily because of my need for it.  I want to write this blog because God is making all things new, and I want to write about, and proclaim with fervor, the awesomeness of our Lord and Savior, and how He is better than the escapes that we desperately cling to, thinking they will satisfy us. 

One day, we won't run to the deceitful idols that promise us life only to deliver death.  And unlike New Year's resolutions, this is one promise that will come to fruition with 100 % certainty, because of the Cross of Christ.