unlimited fresh starts
Happy New Year, my friends! We’ve made it to 2024.
Now before we dash off into the bright glow of our futures, I just wanted to share a quick thought. Something that’s been on my mind during this week of new beginnings and fresh starts.
January doesn’t own every opportunity for growth. Resolutions aren’t tied to a single season. We can change any time we want to.
Because of Jesus Christ, we can treat every single day like it’s New Year’s Day.
Because of Him, we have unlimited chances to start over.
Monthly.
Weekly.
Daily.
Hourly.
Minute by minute, we can begin again.
But this kind of change isn’t accomplished through our sheer grit and plucky determination. No, true change requires something else from us. And maybe that’s what makes it so hard.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
It’s so simple, and yet it’s not. Our Lord is asking us to drop our heavy burdens—our hustle and our hurt, our constant striving and our crippling doubt. He’s asking us to quit trying to do it ourselves and admit that we’re needy and desperate because we are. All of us are. He’s asking us to become His students rather than pretending that we already know it all. He’s asking us to watch how He moves and to model His behavior. To be meek and lowly just as He is.
He’s asking us to follow Him in our thoughts and our actions because it’s in the following that we find change. He knows how to turn our heavy things into something manageable. He knows how to turn our darkness into light. And He never, ever tires of saving us.
Isn’t that such a relief?
So if it’s a struggle this month to start new habits or let go of old ones, don’t lose heart. Keep trying. Keep reaching out to the Champion of change. To the One who loves us as we are even as He sees who we can become.
Minute by minute.
Hourly.
Daily.
Weekly.
January through December.
Again and again.
Happy New Year—today and tomorrow.
