I know, I know, it’s just another day. Nothing magical about January 1. But still, we place so much emphasis on this day, don’t we? We look at this day of the year as something very special, very….. different, from all the other days in the year. Oh, yes, we have other significant days marked clearly on our digitized day-planners, but this day seems to stands out from all the others. Why is that? Let’s give it some thought as we are on the verge of the ending of another year.

Many will make New Year’s Resolutions. These resolutions are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. They range from the silly to the serious, from the insignificant to the incredible, from the laughable to the life-altering. Why do we do this? What makes the beginning of a new year the focal point of such mental gymnastics? Allow me to make a few observations.

As we come to the beginning of a new year, for many it is a time of reflection. We look back over the previous year, thinking about the highs and lows, the good times and bad, the happy days and sad. It is sometimes a period of melancholy, as we contemplate the previous year. Those times of happiness bring a smile to our face, and a sense of joy to our spirit. And then, as we reminisce about the sad times, even though months have now passed, tears fill our eyes and sorrow clouds our minds.

However, it is not just a time of reflection; it’s also a time of evaluation. As we ponder the past, we begin to make a mental assessment of how things went, of what went wrong in the bad times, and of what was right in the good times. We evaluate our job performance, our relationships, our involvements in community or church activities, our influence on others, our profits and/or losses, and a plethora of other things. As we do this, we are striving to learn from the past, with the hopes of making the next year better than the year just ended.

And then, after a time of reflection and evaluation, we begin to make plans for the coming year. We learn from the past, or at least we should. We assess the mistakes we made, and strive to not repeat them. As a matter of fact, we not only try our best not to make the same mistakes, but to actually learn from them lessons that will help us do better in the future. We also make an assessment of the good times, the profitable times, and we make a determination that we will try to improve on these areas, making them better and more profitable.

The beginning of a new year is indeed a great time for reflection and evaluation. But let’s not get bogged down in the past. As the Apostle Paul said in his correspondence with his friends in Philippi, we need to forget the things of the past and press forward. And what exactly are we to press forward toward? Paul gives us the answer:

Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

As we move into 2019, let us make the determined effort to focus on Jesus Christ. Our goal as followers of Christ is to truly follow Him: His teachings, His example, His worship, His work. Let’s make it our focus to strive to be a light shining out in the darkness and decadence of our fallen world. Let’s make an all-out effort to be the salt of the earth, striving to be the preservative of righteousness amidst the putrefying forces of evil. Jesus could not have made it any clearer when He said:

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

As we look to the new year, we can pretty well be assured that there will be good times and bad times; happy times and sad times; times of gain and times of loss; times of relative ease and times of extreme struggle. I am convinced that the way to handle it all, and to keep everything in proper balance, is to keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ, and strive to do all that we do for His glory. With that focus, we can rest assured that God’s blessings will abide on us regardless of whatever life throws our way.

My prayer for each of us is that God would bring everything into each day of 2019 that would serve His purposes of glorifying His Son. Remember, we are pressing toward an ultimate goal that takes us far past the experiences of this life into the glorious eternity He has prepared for us.

Be It Therefore Resolved That: I will do everything within my power to allow God to use me to serve His purpose in my life in 2019. I will seek ways to glorify Him in every circumstance, situation and eventuality that enters into my personal experiences.

What could possibly be better than that?