‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ John 1:1
As I write, my assumption is that I am not the only one who finds myself looming in the shadows of Advent and Christmas and realising the commencement of a new year is dawning just around the corner. During this week I realise that people around the globe will once again be assessing the plus and minus of this past year, while at the same time pondering on the resolutions that will raise expectations for so many people in the coming year.
It may come as a surprise that the practice of setting new pledges has been around longer than we can imagine. History tells us that while this ritual feels deeply modern, surprisingly it has ancient roots. It was the Ancient Babylonians who established the first known practice of setting new pledges, a tradition that has endured for over 4000 years. Every first day of January, millions of people will set their intentions to exercise more, spend less, be kinder to others and so on.
On the odd occasion when this subject comes up, I get the impression that most of our new year resolutions are likely to be about ourselves! During this particular season of reflections, I have found myself in what might be called a reversal mode. By this I mean that some of my perspectives have been somewhat challenged and therefore driven in the opposite direction. The direction I refer to are the ones that God has clearly placed on my heart as opposed to those I have determined for myself.
The question I am again asking has no doubt been raised before; the specifics being in what direction does the Lord want me to go. This amounts to that age old challenge of, “what is my purpose in these present days?” More importantly, has this directive been given to me in the past? To ascertain this, it will require us to return to all our yesterday’s. As we enter the season of reflective mist, we need to remind ourselves that ‘our purpose’ can only come out of God’s purpose and His agenda for us. It doesn’t come from what suits us.
As this new year dawns, we need to remember that purpose is never found in a spiritual supermarket where the shelves are full of special offers and discounts. Neither does scripture have labels on it with sell by dates. It is from this reality that I have found myself having to travel back in time rather than assuming my purpose will only be realised in the present.
Too often we can overlook the fact that our God is an eternal God as opposed to us being temporal. Our timeline is not His timeline, when we reflect upon the attributes of God, we are reminded that He is both omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. The history of God has already revealed much to those who believed and obeyed. Many have told their stories set within the pages of scripture. For us today we are living and operating within the New Testament and are in that timezone of waiting, referred to as being ‘Eschatological,’ the time in between the first coming and the second coming of Christ.
The opening passage of John’s Gospel tells us much about the Deity of Jesus Christ; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:-5 | NASB
I am sure that if we were able to go back in our own time and rediscover the calls of God on our hearts, we would see more than just a few divine opportunities for His Kingdom work. Our time is not His time, His is infinite, while ours can be gone in a flash. Maybe it’s your time as well as mine, to look again at our past in a non-critical way and celebrate the resurrection of our unfulfilled opportunities that may, by His Grace, still be available to us.
May the mysteries of heaven open up for us all in this coming year.
David Conlon
One Response
Waooo!! This is so great . I just understood this new year resolution ideas is ancient. Lord have mercy! I am also plugging into the reversal mode too. Thank you so much for sharing this mystery.