Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. It is also New Year’s Eve. The Church will be closing one year and welcoming another with prayer, thanksgiving, and praise. Every Lord’s Day has certain features in common, but some Lord’s Days awaken particular memories, emotions, and points for meditation. You celebrate the resurrection of Christ and pardon of your sins every Sunday, but I suspect there were additional thoughts of joy and gratitude that filled your heart on the Sunday your children (or grandchildren) were baptized. So as we approach the last Lord’s Day of 2023 and the beginning of a new year, how should we prepare our hearts?
We should look back with gratitude. The Lord has blessed and sustained us through the last year. There have been trials and sorrows, disappointments and losses, but we are still here and able to confess, “Thus far the Lord has helped me.” There have also been many joys, comforts, and gifts which all came from the Father’s loving hand. We owe him thanks for it all.
We should look back with repentance. We have not done all that we could or all that we should. We have squandered much of our time, and even what we have done that we ought, we did not always do well. The Lord is gracious and merciful. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. We do not keep a yearly day of repentance and atonement, as the Jews did. The Church’s atonement is commemorated every first day of the week. But at the turn of the year, it is appropriate to look back and confess our faults over the year as a whole in order to move ahead with confidence of our cleansing and all the more grateful for his favor.
We should look ahead with cheerfulness and excitement. We know there will be difficult times in the year ahead. Chances are not all of us will live to the end of it. But we know the Lord will be with us. He promises to turn every experience that lies before us for our good. We enter the year with confidence that the evil we will meet there cannot truly harm us and that there will be much good to receive, celebrate, and enjoy. Each of us will be one year older, but that only brings us one step closer to seeing the face of our Savior. The new year holds no terrors for a believer, only holy enthusiasm to see God’s kindness each day.
We should look ahead with pious resolve. Many people will be making New Year’s resolutions, most of which will not last the first quarter of the year. Whether it is by formal resolution or not, all of us should aspire to be more faithful, fruitful, holy, happy, and obedient to God in the days that lie ahead than we have been in the days that are now behind us. This may involve a commitment to more consistent Bible reading, a plan to memorize Scripture, a schedule for daily prayer, or goals for hospitality and visitation. All of these are good habits to cultivate and establish. But do not think of faithfulness only in terms of performance goals. How do you need to grow in gratitude, humility, cheerfulness, contentment, love, and courage? How do you aspire to grow in your sanctification in this new year? What prayer will you make to that end?
Whether 2023 was a good year for you or not, it has now come to an end. What is past cannot be changed, but it can be forgiven, learned from, remembered with fondness, and commemorated with thanksgiving. A new year is upon us, and the Lord will be with us there, as he has been with us in the last twelve months. We do not know what lies in the future, but we do know in whose control it lies. He will lead us safely. He promises not to lose any one of his sheep. --JME
