Have you made your new year’s resolutions? Chances are, they are about losing weight, having better Bible reading habits, praying more often, being more patient, or attending worship more often. Your resolutions may have nothing to do with any of those I have mentioned, but at least one of them may be in your list.
Why do we make resolutions on New Year’s Day? For some, it is because that is what everyone else does. For others, it is an opportunity to start over. The beginning of a new year seems to be the time when people feel the past can be forgotten, and they can begin again.
There is nothing wrong with making an effort to improve a person’s diet, stop a bad habit, or change other such things; but we don’t have to wait until January 1 to do it. It can begin on any given day throughout the year.
The book of Lamentations, probably written by the prophet Jeremiah, is a sad commentary on the destruction of Jerusalem. Though the destruction of this great city had been foretold, it still seemed to come as a surprise. Though Jeremiah warned the people this tragic event was coming, they chose to ignore him and continued in sin.
Even in the lamenting, Jeremiah gives hope. He said, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have: 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’. The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:21-25 ESV).
Each day is a new beginning for each of us. No one has to wait until the beginning of a new year to start over.
The trick is to see each day as a new beginning. We sometimes dwell so much on the past that we can’t forgive ourselves much less ask God to forgive us.
John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness” (First John 1:9).
John reminded these Christians that everyone sins; and if we say we have no sin we are liars (verse 8). Then he provides hope of forgiveness. What a wonderful blessing that is for the Christian.
Notice, however, that we must confess our sins in order to be forgiven. One can’t expect God to forgive us when we do not acknowledge our faults, repent, and put Him first.
I’ve always loved this poem. I think it expresses what we all feel from time to time.
THE LAND OF BEGINNING AGAIN
By Lolita Hiroshi
I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door.
And never be on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware,
Like the hunter who finds a lost rail;
And I wish that the one whom our blindness had done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be at the gates like an old friend that waits
For the comrade he’s gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do
But forgot, and remembered too late.
Little praises unspoken, little promises broken,
And all of the thousand and one
Little duties neglected that might have perfected
The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn’t be possible not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again;
And the ones we misjudged and the ones
Whom we grudged
Their moments of victory here
Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp
More than penitent lips could explain.
For what had been hardest we’d know had been best,
And what had seemed loss would be gain;
For there isn’t a sting that will not take wing
When we’ve faced it and laughed it away.
And I think that the laughter is most what we’re after
In the Land of Beginning Again.
So I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,
And never be put on again.
What I love more is that passage from Lamentations. God’s mercies are new every morning, so we do live in a land of beginning again.
Sandra Oliver