People get excited about the turn of the calendar as they look at the new year as an opportunity for a fresh start. In respect to starting a diet, exercise program, or renewing a committing afresh in any area of life this can be invigorating. If, however, the freshness of the new year does not carry with it a basis of change, you’ll soon find the freshness goes right back into the staleness of what has always been.
A real change begins by taking heed to the words of Joshua as he instructed the children of Israel in their preparation for advancing into the promised land:
Joshua 3:4 (ESV) — 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
This is a new year and to make it successful, we need to understand we have not passed this way before. Therefore, we need help from God who knows the end from the beginning and we need to seek His wisdom.
Isaiah 46:9–10 (ESV) — 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
There’s a particularly important word of advice from God in the book of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV) — 16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
With the call for everything that is new and fresh, God says it’s best to look back. In fact, way back to find the ancient paths, where the good way is. How does that look? Where do we turn?
John 5:39 (ESV) — 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) — 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) — 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
As we turn to the word of God, we are turning to the ancient ways, as God’s revealed truth goes back to creation and has been the standard for living ever since. It’s been proven to be the best path for living over and again as the word of God points the way to salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the admonition in Jeremiah is also the attitude of humility to seek and ask for the way in which to approach the path of the new year. Anytime we approach the word of God we must be humble enough to be changed, otherwise we merely look for confirmation for how we are and we’ll only find that by twisting scripture and taking things out of context.
James 1:21 (ESV) — 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
A good thing to do at the beginning of the year is to examine ourselves as to how we are advancing in growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ because if we are stagnant, we are retreating or backsliding. Therefore, we ought to be mindful of signs of growth and seek to apply the discipline needed in the power of the promised Holy Spirit to take in the meat of the word and grow.
2 Peter 3:18 (ESV) — 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Hebrews 5:12–14 (ESV) — 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) — 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Going back to Jeremiah 6:16, not only is there a going back to ancient pathway laid out in the word of God, but there is a call to “walk in it.”
James 1:22–25 (ESV) — 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Jeremiah concludes with the promise of finding “rest for your souls.” Wouldn’t that be a great find for the coming year? Think of rest for your soul. When your soul is at rest, it really doesn’t matter what is going on around you – you have rest for your soul.
Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Hebrews 4:9–11 (ESV) — 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
What would you give to find that rest for your soul? The answer is in Jeremiah 6:16. As you face the new year, make it a fresh start by standing in the way and seeking out the ancient pathway that has been good for God’s people for centuries – the word of God. But don’t just seek it out, apply the word of God and do what it says. That takes discipline and discipline comes from a plan of action with reliance upon the help of the Holy Spirit. As you apply yourself to discipline in the word of God and rely upon God’s help, you’ll find that discipline does make the difference in every aspect of life.
Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV) — 16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
If you want to face the new year with rest of soul as you confidently trust God, then make sure by God’s grace and help you do not fall into the trap of self-reliance as in the people’s response to Jeremiah’s admonition: “We will not walk in it.”
May God grant you a great year as you apply the word of God afresh.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker, Pastor
Christ Community Presbyterian Church
Clearwater, FL
