Welcome to 2012. I have always loved a new year while at the same time disliking New Year's Eve parties. I am not seeking to be a person who dampens a party. It's just that I don't really enjoying having to stay awake until after midnight. After all, I'm an early bird...so if I stay up until midnight I will get a maximum of three hours sleep. Now, I can function fine with three hours of sleep, but would prefer to avoid it. I also don't enjoy going out in the winter and having to go out into the cold that late at night to travel roads filled with people who perhaps should not be on the road to begin with. So, I don't really like New Year's Eve parties. However, I love a new year. It reminds me of new beginnings, new possibilities, new hopes and dreams for the future. It also reminds me of a passage of scripture written by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian believers. In that letter Paul writes the following...
"...But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
When I think of these verse in connection with a new year, it reminds me to do several things. First, whatever is in the past should be left there. I should not let past failures limit future success any more than I should let past successes make me overconfident about the future. What is in the past should be treasured or learned from, and then left there. Second, I need to press forward in life to live as Christ has determined for me. I am to seek to fulfill all the God-given goals that I have for my life. Finally, I should remain focused on eternal life with Christ in the heavenly realms. In this way, I will continue to make a difference in this world until I am called to the next world. So, in this new year, let go of the past, press forward toward present goals, and keep an eternal focus at all times. If you do, what a new year it might be for you.
