Did you know that New Year’s Day is the one holiday that is almost universal? It is the world’s most observed holiday.
I trust you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions, one of which is to be in worship each week. I won’t ask you if you’ve resolved to lose the weight you gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or if you’re planning on joining a health club, or if you’re going to run five miles a day. Five miles, by the way, is my total aggregate of a lifetime of running.
Ed McManus has some words of comfort for those of us who are setting resolutions: “Don’t worry about [keeping] those 2020 News Year’s resolutions,” he says. “You only have to deal with them until February and then you can give them up for Lent.”
Resolutions are good, especially when we need to make some changes in our lives. I heard about one poor guy who dialed his girlfriend and got the following recording: “I am not available right now but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.” While at times unpleasant, change is good.
In writing the Prologue to his gospel, the Apostle John chose to emphasize the future, not the past—possibilities, not regrets. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… to all who received God, to those who believed in God’s name, God gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1: 1, 8). What a positive theme for this New Year! The prologue to John is focused not on what we have been, or even what we are now. Rather it’s focus is on what we can yet be: “Yet to all who received God, to those who believed in God’s name, God gave the right to become children of God….”
Isn’t that what we really want as we begin this New Year - to know deeply in our hearts that we can be more than we are today? That we have a right to become children of God? Isn’t it exciting to know that we can live the next 365 days confidently aware that our life matters and that God is with us? That we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us?
We all have unrealized potential. We are children of the dust who have the potential to be children of the Divine. When each of us came into this world, we were given an amazing amount of potential.
I once saw a young man pedaling around a college campus on a bicycle, wearing a T-shirt printed with the message: “I’m going to be a doctor.” There was also a sign on the back of his bicycle, proclaiming, “I’m going to be a Mercedes.” There’s a young man who understands his potential.
Notice, the text doesn’t say that Christ came into the world so that we can improve our I.Q. or that we will be able to run the 440 in record time. It says that whoever receives Christ and believes on his name has the potential to become a child of God. What does that mean? It means that you and I have the potential to be like Christ. We have a potential within our hearts and souls for peace, a potential for joy, a potential for hope, a potential for love, a potential for forgiveness that is greater than we can possibly imagine. Think about that! We no longer need to live lives filled with inner conflict, anger, resentment, fear, hatred, guilt or rejection. By the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we can become new people, God’s people.
Sometimes personal epiphany happens dramatically, but more often it happens very slowly over time. Regardless, you and I can be more than we are. It doesn’t depend on our background; on our physical or mental limitations. It doesn’t even depend on our age. We may find themselves slowing down physically, and even mentally, but there is no need to slowdown in our efforts to be children of God. This is a gift that never fades nor ever fails.
The right to be children of God is not something we earn. It’s a gift from a loving, merciful God. Note again John’s words: “To all who received God, who believed in God’s name, God GAVE the right to become children of God.” It’s not a matter of how often we come to God’s house; it’s not how often we read our Bibles; it’s not how often we pray. As important as all those things may be, we can’t earn the right to be children of God. It’s a gift.
So, Happy New Year, Child of God! Boldly walk into 2020, aware of who we are, and to Whom we belong.
Agape, Mike