New Year - New Opportunities

Happy New Year!

The start of a New Year. For many, this is a time of reflection on the just completed year. Did it go as planned? Am I better off now than I was on January 1st a year ago? Did I stick with those lofty resolutions made in the infancy of the previous year, or, like many, is my waste-line a bit larger and my muscles a wee bit flabbier? Is the world a better place?

In addition to reflection, however, it is difficult not to contemplate the opportunities that a New Year brings with it. A New Year offers the often illusory opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over. It offers an opportunity to forget the past and all of the abandoned resolutions and personal failures. It offers the opportunity to begin anew, fresh and pure.

Of course, we know that we cannot completely forget the past, and often things we have done or failed to do in the past will continue to have an affect upon us in the present. That was readily apparent to me as I stepped on my bathroom scale this morning and saw the consequences of consuming the obscene quantities of food I did at last night’s New Year’s eve get-together! Often, however, the consequences of our past actions or inactions are even more severe than a few extra pounds. These can be far more difficult to shed, and may continue to haunt us far into the New Year … and beyond.

Still, there is no denying that the dawning of a New Year does present us with a new opportunity. It gives us the opportunity to change. It gives us the opportunity to dump those bad habits we know are not good for us, yet we somehow continue to do. We can make a concerted effort to stop over-eating, and stop being best friends with the Big Mac, the Thick Burger, and the “Super-sized” French fries. We can get off the couch and spend some time with those forlorn friends the treadmill and weight machine. We can even treat our bodies to the pure joy and ecstasy of some good, old-fashioned sit-ups! We can say “no” to the false lures of the tobacco and alcohol industries. We have the opportunity to finally ditch these and other bad habits.

A New Year gives us the opportunity to become a better person. We can become a better husband (or wife), a better father (or mother), a better friend. We can step away from the television, the computer and the cell phone and invest quality time with our spouse, our children and our friends. Each and every day, we can tell and show them just how much they are loved and treasured, and how much their presence in our life is an incredible blessing.

A New Year gives us the opportunity to begin living for others rather than ourselves. Unlike what we are often told by society, life isn’t all about us. As Christian pastor and author John Piper declares, “If you are a Christian, you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his own death. Your life is not your own. It is God’s.” Life is about serving and glorifying God, and a major part of this is serving others. We have the opportunity to be more of a “giver” and less of a “taker”.

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10: 31

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” -- Matthew 5: 16

A New Year gives us the opportunity to REALLY start living as God wants us to. We have the opportunity to grow more like HIM each and every day. We have the opportunity to spread the love and message of Christ, and to be HIS servant. We have the opportunity to do HIS will.

I don't know about you, but I relish this opportunity. Each year, as I add yet another tic-mark next to my list of accumulated birthdays, I become more and more aware of my human mortality. Probably to the delight of many, I won't be on this earth forever! I am becoming increasingly aware that my time on this earth is limited. How am I using this precious time? Am I using it in pursuit of earthly goods and treasures, primarily seeking my own pleasure and comfort? Or, am I using it to glorify God by living the way He intends me to live, and by spreading the Great News of the Gospel by action and deed? In his book “Don’t Waste Your Life”, Piper states, “Love is not Christ’s making much of us or making life easy. Love is doing what He must do, at great cost to Himself (and often to us), to enable us to enjoy making much of Him forever.” He goes on to flatly declare, “God and God alone is the only treasure who lasts.”

“Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6: 19-21

I don’t want to waste the time I have remaining in my life. I want to use it in the manner God desires. I want to be a better husband, a better father, a better friend. I want to be more giving, more loving, more attentive. Every waking moment I want to realize that everything I have is a gift from Him, and that these gifts are to be freely shared to help others and spread His love and message of salvation. I want to live life as God intends.

“All things were created through Him and For Him.” -- Colossians 1: 16

In “Don’t Waste Your Life”, Piper concludes his opening remarks with this powerful admonition: “Remember, you have one life. That’s all. You were made for God. Don’t waste it.” I don’t want to come to the end of my days and have the sudden revelation that I wasted my life. I vow not to let that happen. I won’t waste my life.