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by Edie Jenkins –
Here we are in 2010—a new year—a new decade. A new year speaks of promise for the future. In the news recently many expressed hope for better things in 2010. Materially, financially or politically, things may or may not get better, but spiritually we have hope for something new and better.
What can lift us out of the humdrum, things-as-they-always-were, the daily rut? The realization that God always wants to do something new in our lives—something to spark excitement and anticipation within us.
In the Old Testament, God often did something new. He led the Israelites out of Egypt, brought them into the promised land, gave them the Davidic kingdom, restored them to their land following the Babylonian captivity. He gave his people many promises of new things.
“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (Isaiah 42:9).
“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?” (Isaiah 43:19).
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised a new covenant. “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with house of Israel and with the house of Judah…” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
This Christmas we celebrated again the new thing—the unprecedented thing—that happened when God invaded earth in the form of a human baby. This event brought something new into the world and changed it forever. What can we expect to receive from God as something new?
A new covenant. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s laws are written on our hearts—they become inner principles; we know him; our sin is remembered no more—the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Hebrews 8:8-10).
A new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This speaks of the life transformation that comes when we are joined to Christ by faith. The old attitude is gone. We view things through the love of Christ.
A new way to serve. “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the
law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (Romans 7:6). We serve God because he has transformed our hearts. We serve out of love and gratitude and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A new self. “You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of its Creator” (Colossians 3:9-10). A conscious decision to walk as the new creation, involving action as well as good intentions.
A new song. In Psalm 40:3 David said, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” God gives us new song of joy and spiritual victory.
New mercies. “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23).
Each day we can experience God’s mercy, compassion and grace in a new way. Trusting in
God’s past faithfulness makes us confident in his great promises for the future. Look out for what new thing the Lord is going to do!
In Revelation 21:1-5 we read about the new heavens and new earth at the end of the age. In verse 5 Jesus says, “I am making everything new.” Everything will be new—the culmination of God’s plan through the ages. But we don’t have to wait until the end-time. Jesus is making everything new right now. When we accept him as Savior and Lord, we are a new creation. Along our spiritual journey, he is changing us into his image, giving us new vision and victories.
How can we keep from getting in a spiritual rut? By realizing that God always wants to do something new in our lives. No matter how long we’ve known him, there’s always something new! As the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press onward to the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
While we never want to forget what God did for us, we don’t want to dwell on the past. We have experienced the Spirit of God in our lives: In the new creation, in the new self, in the new Spirit. However, he always wants to do something more—something new. As this New Year unfolds before us, may our prayer be, “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” Not what happened last year or last month; not how it’s always been, but what does God want to do in us today—what new vision, what new challenge, what new victory, what new passion to cause us to be excited about our life in Christ? He will do it if we allow him to!