"For This New Year"

by Kelly Knowlden

I hereby highly resolve to ...

Even if our new year’s resolutions are not made so formally, yet we make them with a high degree of
purpose to change. We see the value in the change; we understand that it will be good for us or for others in our world and so we determine that this year I will be different. I will keep my room clean. I won’t say “um” in conversations. I won’t be impatient. I will be kind to the cat... etc.

Of course, if you are of an age higher than thirty, and if you make such resolutions, that in the corner recesses of your mind you are also a bit skeptical or perhaps even cynical that this year will really change anything at all.

Why is that? It is because we know that change does not come through good promises to ourselves. We look in the mirror and see the same person day after day and realize that we are in some way stuck with ourselves. On our “good” days, we are okay with that. But on our “bad” days, when we see a bit about ourselves that we do not like, we know that we need to do SOMETHING. So we make promises.

Here is the real problem: people don’t change that way. Habits, ruts, routines, addictions, obsessions, inclinations, tendencies mark us. They are the patterns of a lifetime of choices that cannot be made just because we wish them so.

So then, what are we left with? No hope?

Not so. For that is the real power of the Christmas season. It is in the “after He came to earth” part that gives us hope. Because God became like us in every way [except without sin] He is able to come to our aid in our times of need. What is that aid? Change! In seeking the King of kings and Lord of lords, and in recognizing our great need to change, we repent [turn around] and go in a different direction based on His strength and will. My seeking will take the form of those questions mentioned before: What is He like? How does He deal with the world? What about the tragic events that happen? How do I know Him? What does He require of me? Do I need to win His favor? What does it take to be good enough to see Him?

His answers are life-changing!