The quote with the most “likes” about the beginning of 2015 was by vocal artist, Taylor Swift. It simply reads…
“This is a New Year, a new beginning…and things will change!”
We can all relate to the hope of a new beginning, a second chance, or a way to start over, especially at the onset of a New Year.
For most of us the final week of December is filled with expectations of what the New Year will bring. Thoughts of a fresh start fill us with hope as we make our resolutions, longing to become a better person or live a better life in some way.
And yet, all too soon, the hope begins to fade. For all the good intentions, only a tiny fraction of us keep our resolutions; University of Scranton research suggests that just 8% of people achieve their New Year’s goals.
But there is an everlasting hope available to all of us. One that will satisfy any human longing, and it starts with a new beginning.
The Bible tells us that once we choose to embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we get a fresh start, a new beginning. We actually become a new creation! The old life is gone; a new life begins! (2nd Corinthians 5:17)
That kind of “new” will not fade with time. Instead, it only grows as our reconciled relationship with God continues to re-new us day by day. (2nd Corinthians 4:16) That kind of “hope” does not disappoint. Instead, the love of God being poured into our hearts is the evidence of the blessings God has in store for us. (Romans 4:20)
CS Lewis put it this way,
“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because God made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. . .It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”
― C.S. Lewis
God alone gives us a new life that no one can take away, a new hope that nothing can fade. God is a God of new beginnings!