Starting Over
The New Year is a time when we traditionally think of starting over. A new calendar gives us the feeling that we can leave behind our mistakes and failures and have another chance.
So, at this time of year many people make New Year’s resolutions. Attendance at the gym always seems to swell around the first of January. (Of course, that’s also the time of year when waistlines have swelled following the holiday season.)
Many of you take this opportunity to start over with your commitment to read the Bible daily. (Pick up a daily Bible reading calendar in the foyer if you haven’t already.) And bad habits of many shapes and sizes are annually sworn off of, at least for a few days, right after we’ve welcomed in the New Year.
Starting over is a biblical concept. God forgives us on an ongoing basis, so in a sense, we start over every time we fail him and then resolve to do better. My favorite Bible verse, 1 John 1:7, says that “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, [continually] purifies us from all sin.”
I also love how David described God’s forgiveness, and therefore our ability to start over, in Psalm 103:8-12: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Before he died, Moses told the Israelites that after they rebelled against God they could start over. He said, “When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart…, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes…” (Deuteronomy 30:2-3)
The New Year is a great time to resolve to start over and make improvements in your spiritual life. But it’s important to remember that anytime is the right time to start over with God. As Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:15-16, God expects a lot from us: “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
Don’t wait for just one time a year to work on being holy and starting over. It’s a job that should keep you busy 365 days every year.