New things!

 I enjoy new things. I love how bright white socks are when they are new. And I am always amazed at how dingy my old ones look in comparison. No doubt about it, in some cases, new is amazing. I think that’s why we are so fascinated by welcoming in a New Year.

A new start to the calendar year is something worth celebrating! Maybe for some people this past year has been a hard one. And for some, maybe it was a year filled with mistakes that stained the fabric of their lives. The idea of a new start sounds wonderful and promising.

As the New Year has just begun, a lot of us look at our lives and think about the things we would like to change. The beginning of a new year feels like an appropriate time to break the bad habits we have. There’s just one problem with this…most of the time we start strong, waiver a little and then finally declare ourselves failures. Sometimes it’s too overwhelming to view our lives in a yearly time frame.

Instead, why not celebrate the fact that each day is new? Colossians 3:9-10 reminds me of those dingy socks I was talking about. It says, “…since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Our old self is stained, ugly and stinky, but our new self is bright, white and dazzlingly clean- thanks to Jesus.

Each day I ask my kids if they put on clean socks as they get dressed. And each day we should ask ourselves if we have taken off our old self and put on the new. Take the time to renew your mind with God’s word so you can become more like Him. The more you know God, the more renewed you will be. And here’s the great thing, when you view each day as a new start and you choose to change your spiritual socks, the less you will resemble your old dingy, stained self.

A New Year’s resolution can be a great thing, but don’t forget that small things add up to become great things as well. Each new day can be the start of something amazingly new and wonderful in your life!