One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to write a devotional everyday for the year, below is my first.
Ezekiel 36:25-27
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
New Year’s Day, is symbolized too often by drunkenness, parties and the mummers. While these things are certainly traditions associated with the holiday there’s more to it than all this. It’s a holiday that celebrates the new. As the ball drops, there’s a promise of great things to come. A new year offers an opportunity to start anew, and this promise for a blank slate that we find so appealing because, when we’re honest we must admit that we make mistakes and most of them we live to regret these choices.
The problem is that somehow, one way or another we fail to really learn from our mistakes from previous years. We fall into the same trips that ensnare us. We make those new year resolutions but somehow only a few days if not hours those resolutions are all but forgotten. When we make them, we’re sincere. When we promise ourselves these promises we couldn’t have been serious. If we think about it, we can easily remember that what resolutions we made and broke them last year. But we promise ourselves this year will be different, even when those resolutions that we had last year are the ones we’re making again.
Unfortunately we’re stuck in this almost endless circle of making and breaking promises and missing and wrecking another opportunity for a new start, but why? It’s because simply put, we can’t do anything right. Left to our own devices we’ll find ourselves falling short time and time again. Paul laments this cycle of endless failures when he writes in Romans 3:23 saying, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
If we find that sin being avoidable isn’t disheartening enough Paul also writes what all man living in sin can expect in the afterlife, in Romans 6:23a saying, “For the wages of sin is death”. Where then is the hope? What’s the point of even trying since we’re all going die and suffer for the sin we’re guilty of?
Fortunately for us that’s only half the story. It’s true that we’re complete and utter failures but the Lord offers a similar to the promise of starting year that New Year’s offers, but His offer is far, far greater. While New Year’s reset only lasts until the day’s end and we make our first mistakes, but the Lord’s offering is for a complete newness. He offers to wash away your sin and make you pure. It’s this gift that gives us the rights and privileges of being His child, the greatest of those being an eternity in His presence.
We are made new, given a heart that yearns to serve the Lord. Many of those same sins that bogged us down lose their appeal, as Ezekiel and 2nd Corinthians promise. Now don’t mistake this promise. God doesn’t say life will become easier; sometimes it’ll seem that life’s tougher because you belong to the Lord, but what is promised is that you’re His and you’ll never be alone again.
This awesome gift comes at the highest price; the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 proclaims this in a solitary exclamation stating “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” No greater love has ever been expressed then when Jesus took our place on the cross and with it the penalty for our sin.
If you haven’t yet experienced this love, let today, the beginning of the New Year stand as a reminder of what He’s promising you. A gift to be made new if only you believe in Him, acknowledge that you’re a sinner and ask for forgiveness. Below is a sample prayer for you to use, but I welcome you to pray as your heart leads.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for sending Your Son to die on the cross and taking on my sin. I know that I’m a sinner but You love me anyway. Lord, please forgive me. Make me new, and give me a heart for You. Thank You, Lord for everything You’ve done, are doing, and will do in the future.
DAILY QUESTION: What will you change about your life into the New Year to aid you in living a better Christian life?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank’s Jim. You are more than welcome to use any content that I personally contribute (pages, posts, comments, etc.) for your own use. Thank you for this great devotional! God Bless.
Thank you both Carl and RC Admin for taking the time to read my post! Know that I pray for both you and your respective ministries. @RC- I intend to revise this, send this into my church for an annual advent calender (obviously it would be adapted for the season but the message would be the same) and kept to be used for whatever the God called me to use it and I find your statement ‘ And this new start isn’t based on some flimsy resolution, but it’s a total transformation! ” Id like permission to adapt it into thhe devo.
“What will you change about your life into the New Year to aid you in living a better Christian life? ”
I am definitely going to read more. I’ve got a stack of great Christian books that I’m diving into. I’m also going to be more aggressive in pursuing to things that God has called me to do. Thanks for this post Jim. I look forward to reading more.
Awesome post Jim! People get so excited about the idea of having a new start for the new year, but that’s nothing compared to being MADE a new creature in Christ! We don’t have to wait for Dec 31st for a new start..we can have one now!! And this new start isn’t based on some flimsy resolution, but it’s a total transformation! Thanks Jim.
Great to hear, Ill be praying for both you and her.
Thank you for responding to my response and i am pleased to see that you wrote more than a sentence . thank you for the encouragement and i know and feel that god is doing something great with her life.
Also know that Ill always available if you need someone to speak to. My yahoo is Jamesemcdowell@ymail.com and on Facebook as Jim McDowell (my profile pic is identical to my renewed culture pic). Feel free to respond to me on here to drop me an email or to befriend me and share with me on FB. God bless Adam and celebrate in everything that He has done, is doing and will continue to do.
Hello Adam, thank you for responded to me as Im glad that my devo sparked something to get you to write. I understand your nervousness and I can tell that you recognize how dangerous doing something wrong could potentially become. But I want to encourage you, from what I read it would actually seem that you and her on the right course. You said you’ve been doing everything with a light touch which is most likely what she needs right now.
The Lord will give you wisdom and strength to guide your financee as she comes to God, as its already obvious that He’s been using you for just that. The most important thing for you is to simply be there and allow yourself to be used for His purpose without getting overly zealous. If she asks, tell her all that you feel she can take in, but keep it slow. If you’re afraid that being too forceful will scare her away you’re probably right; shes your financee few people know her better than you know her.
If shes curious about church, take her and be extremely attentive to any questions that she may have the next few times. Everytime you two go, pray continously for guidance as a spiritual battle is being fought for her soul and Satan hates to lose. May I suggest that you speak to a pastor or Christian friends that know her for more specific guidance. Know that your not the first nor the last person to have this opportunity and those who know the situation better may be able to give you more direct advice. For some reason your situation reminds me of the same situation my own parents were in. My mother was a devout Christian and my father at the time was agnostic, but through her careful guidance he came to God. But I degress, as I’m starting to go off on a tangent but I know where you’re coming from and wish for you to take solace in knowing that my father is no a devout Christian and both my parents support my decisions to go into the ministry.
Now to get back on track…While you’re with her in church be in prayer the Lord will certainly guide you; really think about what the sermon was about and offer up questions to see what she gets out of it, also be ready for any confusion she has. I suggest having a nonthreatening discussion about the sermon every Sunday if she seems open to it feel the Lord to take it to the next step. If during these discussions you feel the time is right you ask her in an almost nonchalant way if she’d like to read something that spells out of what you believe. This may be next week or may be a month or months from now, but when its time she’ll let you know. She may say yes, she may not. If she says no, don’t push. If she says yes, then go ahead and share it with her and be ready for whatever comes.
She may have one of four reactions, one of anger and resentment, if she does, back off alittle about religion and allow her to take control of her walk.She may put it off as foolishness, don’t become discouraged but keep on with a very light touch and let her lead when it comes to her walk. Those are obviously the negative two responses, the first of the other two is that she may be curious and slightly confused, if so be there and explain to her what it means if she asks you about it. Be willing to be frank and honest, sometimes its not the bible verses but the words of what a Christian feels and what changed in them that really sparks a yearning. The final is that everything will start making sense and she finds herself submitting to the Lord. If she does so, great, its obvious that thats what we all want to see, but remember that even with this scenerio to have a light touch. I hate to make the analogy but its the best one, remember that spiritually she’d be a baby, everything new, exciting and slightly confusing. This certainly wouldnt be the time to be share complex theology even if in your excitment want to share everything with her.
I know this is long, but to recap; firstly congratulations on getting your finacee to where she is now, secondly patience and prayer will win the day (its within God’s time for her to become His, not yours) if she wants to go to church be there with her every step of the way but be on guard that your eagerness and excitement doesnt squash hers, thirdly a soft touch regardless of what the next few weeks of church and questions brings. Lastly,and most importantly, regardless of what she decides in the next few days, love her entirely, she is your financee and if she backs off from God now it doesnt mean that the battle is over and God will pull at her heartstrings again and again and you’ll find yourself in the same situation; counseling her if only years from now, but only if you are nonthreatening about it and always keep the enviroment nonjudgmental. Remember you’re not a car salesman thats got to make a sale, and are pressured to keep a buyer from leaving the sales floor without a new car. You’re the man she loves, the one that she’ll turn to for answers when life gets her down, the one whose arms she’ll seek refuge wnen nowhere seems safe. If she backs away from religion its alright for know, show her Christ in your actions and deeds and trust me, she’ll be back.
You may not recognize it, but I do, the Lord is in this moment of yours and her life, and while it can be an unnerving time for you remember that theres nothing that you and He cannot handle but you MUST be willing to do whatever the Lord asks of you, and know that I pray for you.
well i was thinking on sending this to my fiance , she doesn’t believe in god but i know deep down inside she does. she just recently said she wanted to start going to church which is exactly what i have been praying for . i am vary excited to start going to church with her , she is at a tough point in her life and theirs an emptiness that only god could fill in her life . i was going to send this to her or even post it up so she would read it , but i am scared of messing up what i have been praying for , i don’t want her to be pushed away by me trying to make her believe in something she doesn’t want to believe in. i have found it hard to approach this subject of god without sounding forceful , so i have prayed a lot and when ever the subject about god was brought up i stay calm and tell her simple things like , life has meaning with god (which she thinks life is pointless) , things are too complicated for it to all be chance , just things like that i believe have helped her want to believe and live for god . i don’t know why i am writing you this hole story but i guess i just need someone to talk to , and yes i have talked and prayed to god about it but i would like a response from someone like you too. so my MAIN question i have been wanting to ask you but got carried away is when is it a good time to show her a message like this one , should i wait till after we go to church for the first time (which is this Sunday to be exact) or should i just encourage her to go to church and pray and let god and her start building a relationship. i know this all seems like i should be asking god this question and i have so this is i guess just i cry out for some encouragement or something i don’t know .
by the way i like your messages ill be reading everyday =]
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