LEAVE IT BEHIND
All around the world, wringing in a New Year comes with many traditions, ranging from fireworks to food to festivities. It is easy to find people everywhere making promises, pledges, and affirmations regarding relationships, their bodies, their faith, and their finances. One of the more common popular traditions you find is the playing of the song, Auld Lang Syne.
It began as a poem in the Scots language written by Robert Burns. The English version begins with this verse, Should old acquaintance be forgotten, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgotten, and Auld Lang Syne? Auld Lang Syne is interpreted as, Should we forget those old acquaintances, events, and situations from the past? I would answer that with another question. Is this a new old year or is it a completely new and different year?
If the answer to my question is that it is a completely new and different year, then yes, we must forget the old to walk fully in the expectation of the new. The old is not new, it is old. If we say I am ready for things to change, I need things to change, I am ready for the new. If we want something new, then we cannot continue in an old mindset and expect a new outcome. We must change what we do, in order to change what we get. Let’s consider an old pair of shoes that we have lying around the house. They are familiar and we did have some fond memories while wearing them.
Which of the following would you choose? To have new soles put on the old upper portion, new upper portion put on the old soles, or a completely new pair of shoes? Most of us would choose a completely new pair. Some things are better left alone!
This year is a completely new year. Often a few months into a new year it might not feel so new. Our thoughts tell us it is the same old thing all over again. It can be tough to recall the sentiments we had at the beginning of the year. I have some good news for us. God knew this could happen to us, so he provided us with a contingency plan. I previously shared that God existed before time, and time is the estimation from point to point or space to space.
However, God is not confined by such limitations. In our reality, a typical calendar year consists of 365 days. In God’s reality, one day is like a thousand years. Clearly, we reference space differently than he does. So, God, in order to bridge the chasm between our reality and his, extended to us a new day every day, thus allowing us to have continuous fresh starts every 24 hours. Notice I said “fresh starts” every 24 hours.
We don’t just get one fresh start per 24-hour period we get a thousand fresh starts because in God’s reality a day is like a thousand years. So, remember if things are not going like you want them to go, reach up and hit the restart button and begin a new day.
Whatever was in the last year, that last moment, that last relationship, leave it behind and get the new thing God has ready for you. Happy NEW Year!
This is a Thompson Truth.
