Happy New Year! If you are secular, you celebrate January 1. If you are Chinese, you probably celebrate in January or February. For liturgical Christians the New Year starts with the first Sunday of Advent in November or December. But, for people of Jewish faith, today is the start of the Jewish New Year. Our family doesn’t celebrate this, but I was curious so I looked up some information:
- This two-day festival marks the anniversary of human’s creation—and the special relationship between humans and God, the creator.
- Reflecting on the year before and repenting for any wrongdoings and then reflecting on the year ahead to start afresh.
- Wear white and new clothes, symbolizing purity.
- Every evening, candles are lit. Candles are often a symbol of remembrance.
- On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Tashlich ceremony is performed. This involves visiting a body of fresh water to symbolically cast past sins away.
- Spicy, sharp, or sour foods are avoided in favor of sweet delicacies, representing wishes for a sweet and pleasant year (not a bitter year). Nuts are also avoided.*
Spending time reflecting on God, repenting of our sins, remembering what he’s done for us, and praying for a good year are meaningful efforts. The New Year may happen at different times in different traditions, but the symbolic release of the old and embrace of the new is universal.
Have you noticed that God seems to do New Things whenever he wants to? We may not really think we’re ready to change jobs or have another baby or move, but God has a way of pushing us beyond what we thought we could do. And when we walk forward into the New Thing God calls us to, we find blessings and joy.
I expect none of us thought 2 1/2 years ago that the global panic about a disease would last as long as it has. While I do not believe God sent this disease, I do believe he is using it for his Kingdom purposes. During the last two years my spiritual growth rate has risen exponentially; I am hungry for the Word of God again, hungry to write, serve, and teach. This growth process has shown me things in my character, habits, and relationships that I need to confess and change for the better, but I wouldn’t go back for anything. Maybe you have felt the same pull toward God recently.
Thousands of years ago the prophet Isaiah told God’s people to “Forget the former things…” and “I am doing a new thing.” I believe that God is using this unique epoch in history to do much the same in those who follow hard after Jesus. God is using this time to do something we can’t see yet. My hope and prayer is encapsulated in Psalm 37:17 – that the power of the wicked in this world would be irreparably broken and God would protect his children. My hope and prayer is that God would cause revival and reformation in his Church. Where we have strayed from our love for God and his command to “Go and make disciples,” may we repent and return to our First Love and First Calling. And my hope and prayer is that God would send a spiritual Awakening and cultural transformation into our society. I certainly can’t fully see yet what God is doing. But, whatever God chooses to do in the world, the Church, or our individual lives, we have to admit it will be much easier if we are ready for him to do it.
“But, how do you get ready for a global panic?” No, that’s not the “ready” I’m speaking of. We must be ready in our hearts/minds/spirits – no matter the circumstances – to draw close to God and allow him to clean out the places in our lives that need to be cleaned out or “pruned” for greater healing, fruitfulness, and life.
But, how often do we want to do that work?
As I write, the far half of my two car garage is [still] filled with things that need to be sorted through and either passed on or sold. This stuff (largely from my kids) has been sitting there over a year and a half because I/we have not taken time to sort through it and get rid of it. There’s always an excuse – mostly, “too busy,” and “too cold to work out there.” So, it sits. Doing nothing but taking up useful space where the car could park.
Are there things in your heart that are taking up space and keeping you from using the fullness of what God has given you? Our hearts may struggle with fears, bitterness, disappointment, discouragement, unforgiveness, wounds, and a whole host of things that God can heal. All we have to do is be willing to allow God to work and then do what he tells us to do about it. I have to be willing to admit that I am holding on to unforgivness. I have to confess it before God. Then I have to intentionally and (even when I don’t want to) WILL myself to forgive. I may have to do this work multiple times before I really see the fruits of my efforts. But when I do, this place in my heart is cleared out and allows room for more of Holy Spirit. I have more love, joy, peace, etc. in my life.
Jesus said that the New Wine of his Spirit can’t go in the old wineskins. Those places have been used; their elasticity is gone and the pressures of New Wine would burst them. Instead God creates new wineskins for New Wine. He wants us to forget – even dispose of – the former things and watch for the New Things that he is doing.
How are you allowing God to prepare you for the New Wine he wants to bring into your life? Any and every New Year is an opportunity to draw closer to God.
Jesus, our True Vine,
Thank you that you are continually doing New Things in our world and in our lives. Even when we can’t see what you are doing, we can know your heart and your care for us. Thank you that you do work all things together for good for we who love you. Thank you that you have watched over and guarded and guided your children, especially in these past two years, and you continue to do new things in our lives. We pray you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear Holy Spirit as he moves. Help us to allow you to work to clean out the junk in our hearts, minds, and spirits so that we may have more space for the New Things – for the gifts and blessings – you want to give us. We know that you cannot put your New Wine into old wineskins, so help us allow you to build new wineskins within us to hold the Beauty and Truth you want to place within us. Help us release all fears, bitterness, disappointment, discouragement, unforgiveness, wounds – to forget the former things – so that we can move forward in Love, Peace, and Joy. Prune us for greater fruitfulness. Prepare our hearts for the New Wine with which you want to bless us. Even when we can’t see what you’re doing, Way Maker, we worship you and honor you with our lives. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
“For the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.” (Psalm 37:17 NIV)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:1-4 NIV)
“Nor is new wine put into old wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17 AMP)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV)
“Way Maker” by Sinach
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, working in this place
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, touching every heart
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, healing every heart
I worship You, I worship You
Way maker, miracle worker
Promise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
Even when I don’t see it, You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working
You never stop, You never stop working
You never stop, You never stop working
*from https://www.almanac.com/content/when-is-rosh-hashanah
*adapted from a post from January 25, 2022