At one second past midnight on January 1, the day will change from Thursday to Friday, usually a transition of no special significance. But somehow, we’ve decided that this change, which will end one year and begin the next, is different. This unique tick of the clock has always prompted us both to celebrate and to step outside the day-to-day activity we’re always busy with to reflect, look back, take stock, assess how we did, and resolve to do better. (Ropeik, 2013) New Year’s Day, also simply called New Year, is observed on 1 January, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, the god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. During the Roman era, March marked the beginning of the calendar. Then, in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar created the Julian calendar, which set the new year when it is celebrated today.
Five days from now we will wake up and find the first day of 2021. Will it be any different from 2020, a continuation of the foolishness, a new beginning, or just another day. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that plans have been laid out for us stating, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” “the year-end brings no greater pleasure than the opportunity to express to you season’s greetings and good wishes. May your holidays and new year be filled with joy. Another fresh new year is here, another year to live! to banish worry, doubt, and fear, to love and laugh and give!” (https://www.wisesayings.com/) This idea is reinforced in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that tells was, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Have you prepared a new list of resolutions or promises to yourself for the coming year? It is always interesting to watch people struggle with their wishful thinking. Research tells us that most people will have fizzled out on their New Year’s resolutions by mid-February, back to the old habits and back to their frustrations. The year will roll on, and come December or next January, they will start the resolution process again. But as of now, you are still ahead of the game. How do you avoid becoming a statistic and keep on track for your desired outcome? (Flaxington, 2020) As you start the resolution you will experience obstacles and be sure that life will intervene and you will get distracted, discouraged, and lose focus. You need a plan that will keep you on track. Try to find a buddy to help encourage you daily, keep reminders around to help stay focused, don’t give up at the first sign of failure, and celebrate all the wins no matter how small. Philippians 3:12-15 encourages us by stating, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”
“New Year’s Day is the most active-minded holiday because it is the one where people evaluate their lives and plan and resolve to take action. One dramatic example of taking resolutions seriously is the old European custom of: “What one does on this day one will do for the rest of the year.” What unites this custom and the more common type of resolution is that on the first day of the year people take their values more seriously. Values are not only physical and external. They also can be psychological. Many New Year’s resolutions reveal that people want to better themselves by improving psychologically. For example, look at your resolutions over the years. Haven’t they included such vows as be more patient with your children, improve your self-esteem, be more emotionally open with your spouse? Such resolutions express the moral ambitiousness of a person wanting to improve himself and his life. What then is the philosophic meaning of New Year’s resolutions? Every resolution you make on this day implies that you are in control of yourself, that you are not a victim fated by circumstance, controlled by stars, owned by luck, but that you are an individual who can make choices to change your life. You can learn statistics, ask for that promotion, fight your shyness, and search for that life partner. Your life is in your own hands.” (Anderson, 2015) Ms. Andersons’ idea is reinforced in these two verses, Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” And then Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Is it not wonderful that we have a book so easy to find that has all the answers to our many questions?
“Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.” – Brooks Atkinson