There is something hopeful about a fresh start. Starting a new job, moving into a new house, buying a new car. There is so much optimism when starting a new diet or workout routine. Usually, you begin a new diet or to work out on a Monday because it is a new week. This is why New Year’s Day is such a hopeful time. It is often a time when we review the past year and evaluate the good and the bad and make resolutions to improve and make the coming year better than the last one. The Bible speaks to us about this newness and hope. There is confidence in God’s mercies which are new every morning as Lamentations 3:22-24 tells us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” New Years is the perfect time to focus on the present. You can’t change yesterday, you cannot control tomorrow, all you can do is live today.
There are many people who are ready to put 2020 behind them and look to the optimism of 2021. For a lot of people in this country, 2020 was not the best year. Unfortunately, we have no guarantee that 2021 will create different circumstances that will improve our current status because we still live in a broken and corrupt world. The good news is that our hope does not lie in the optimism of what the new year brings. Our hope is in the steadfast love and faithfulness of God’s mercy, which is new every morning.
Pastor Nelson
