The New Year is here. It is time to celebrate! We have made it to another year! Praise God for all his blessings and mercy for bringing us here! The calendar has turned to 2023 and whatever happened in 2022 is now behind us. The Bible says in Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?” Like the verse says the New Year is a perfect time for us to leave the past behind and look ahead to the New Year!

For a lot of us, 2022 might have been a tough year. We have been through a lot post-pandemic. Whatever happened one thing is for sure, our God did not forget about us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Because of God’s love and faithfulness we made it to 2023.

Sometimes as Christians we lose our way and get caught up in the things of this world and we tend to forget about the mercies of God. It is only through the grace of God and through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that we are able to leave our old selves behind and walk in the plan that God has for our lives. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come” Let us not forget that we are a new creation in Christ and we have put our past behind us.

For some of us putting our past behind us is not that easy. Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul says the way to move ahead is to forget what is behind and strive towards what is ahead and press on toward the goal that Christ has called us for. We are to focus on Christ Jesus and his plan for our lives in order to move ahead, especially in the New Year!

This New Year provides us with the opportunity for a fresh start. We find ourselves in the race again. We might have to start the race from the beginning but nevertheless, we are in the race. Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” This New Year let us get into the race once again and set our eyes on Jesus Christ and push ahead through 2023. Happy New Year!