Welcome to 2025! It’s a new year and offers an opportunity to “reboot.” Some people make New Year’s resolutions, some people make fun of New Year’s resolutions. Some people take advantage of the new calendar to set goals. I hope you do. We are change oriented people. Let me pause so that truth can sink in. There is a lot of talk about how “people” (and that really means us) resist or don’t like change. There is certainly some truth to that, however, it is equally true (and maybe more true) that, as Christians, we have dedicated ourselves to an ongoing process of change. In theology, we call it sanctification, which we usually interpret to mean growing in holiness.
The change of calendar is kind artificial, but there are rhythms built into creation by God Himself. These rhythms offer opportunities to pause, reflect, and realign. The most obvious is the rhythm of night and day. In the middle of the book of Lamentations – a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem – Jeremiah writes these words of hope (Lamentations 3:22-24):
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.”
Did you catch that? The mercies of God are new every morning! This is a poem, but the meaning is clear, God continues to offer mercy to us. And the rhythms of His creation provide a tangible opportunity to reconnect with Him and the mercy He offers us. So new year, new mercy. New day, new mercy. New moment, new mercy. With God being so rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4), what goals are you going to set in this new season? In particular, what goals are you going to set to be more like Christ, to engage with His mission more intentionally, and to delight in Him more fully?
Pursue Christ – He is enough,
Pastor Jeff