Making All Things New?
So, as we round the corner on the 2022 New Year’s Celebrations, what do we have left? Packing up the Christmas stuff is probably one of my least enjoyable chores I have on my list because I love all things associated with the holidays. No more red & green, no more lights twinkling, no more (theoretically) candies & sweets. Putting away the festive, settling back into a more “normal” routine, comes with a certain sense of depression. Yet because we have the opportunity to be new, reflecting not just the turn in the calendar, but the turn in our hearts, we have hope for the future!
I always find it interesting that we start over in January, one of the gloomier months, when the Northern hemisphere is in the midst of winter. We can thank the Romans for that, in particular Numa Pompilius (c. 715–673 BCE), who created the month of January after the Roman god Janus, the god of new beginnings & began the spread of the Republican calendar. Julius Caesar in 46 BCE modified the calendar further, and the Julian Calendar was the standard overall until the fall of the Roman Empire, except for a few Christian countries who continued celebrating the New Year on either 12/25 Christmas Day or March 25 (Feast of the Annunciation). However, there were problems with the leap year and holidays on the wrong days. Thus, Pope Gregory XIII shifted the calendar again in 1582. However, it took until 1752 before the colonies and Britain followed the change. Isn’t that interesting? (https://www.britannica.com/story/why-does-the-new-year-start-on-january-1
Because it’s a new year, new month, we plan to make those changes we never got around to last month, last year, last decade & and begin to think try to think & act along more positive lines. According to https://www.goskills.com/Soft-Skills/Resources/Top-10-new-years-resolutions the most common ones are:
1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organized
4. Learn a new skill or hobby
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more money / spend less money
7. Quit smoking
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Travel more
10. Read more
Any of those sound familiar? A psychological study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11920693/) found that 46% of those who made resolutions were consistently more successful than those who just wanted to make a change in a behavior. Yet most of us lose the shine on that new resolution pretty quickly. How can we be successful in making those changes? Our friends from GoSkills (https://www.goskills.com/Soft-Skills/Resources/Top-10-new-years-resolutions) give us 10 ways to actually achieve those resolutions we set:
1. Mentally prepare for change
2. Set a goal that motivates you
3. Limit resolutions to a manageable amount
4. Be specific
5. Break up big goals into smaller goals
6. Write down your goals
7. Share your resolutions with others
8. Automate where possible
9. Review your resolution regularly
10. If you fall off track, get back on quick
We can’t make all things new on our own (see #3) however we have the support of the One who does. Jesus says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelations 21:5). He will remake Heaven & Earth & He remakes us. Big Daddy Weave sings it like this in their song All Things New (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_2aX_i4qpM) :
Only You can bring such beauty
From the depths of all my pain
Only You can take this shattered heart
And make it beat again
It’s through our faith that the Father renews and restores us. So, as we begin on the next chapter of our journey, let’s allow the Lord to keep the shine on our new – as He makes all things new.
