Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash
And so it is that the calendar will (finally!) flip and begin a brand-new year. 2021, with its rather broad mixture of sorrows and joys, goals missed and met—is soon behind us.
For many people, New Year’s is just another day off of work. For some, however, it’s a time of deep reflection. For the Christian, New Year’s doesn’t really have any real significance. By that, I mean that there is no Biblical narrative informing our corporate or personal worship celebrations.
Of course, this shouldn’t mean that it is wrong for Christians to spend time and reflect on the turning of the calendar. In the Psalter, Moses asked the Lord, “Teach us to number our days so that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Time—seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years—is a gift from a good God. Then, wisely following him will redeem our time (Eph. 5:16).
Several blogs have released end-of-the-year reviews or perspective (thinking ahead) questions for the new year. And I admit, some of them are thought-provoking, like:
Is my family (even extended) closer? Am I a better friend now than at the beginning of the year? What needs to change?
Grade yourself from 1 to 10 in the following areas of focus for 2021: vocational, spiritual, family, relational, emotional, financial, physical, recreational.
Photo by Matt Walsh on Unsplash
The problem with many reviews/goals is that the focus and outcome are often upon me, my ability, and my resources. Would you consider using the beginning of 2022 by sitting down and allowing the Holy Spirit to prod and press you with questions like these?
What is one thing that I have seen Jesus work in my life this year?
How has God’s Spirit worked through me this year in the lives of other people?
What word or phrase might help define my relationship with Jesus? Are you passionate, growing, mediocre, dark chocolate rich, dying, or stagnating?
How has my time in God’s Word been? What have I been actively studying lately? What truth has He been teaching me through the Word?
Am I enjoying prayer? Am I intentional in its practice?
What do my resources (time, talent, finances, attitude, thoughts, passions) say about my focus and priorities this past year?
Has God used me this past year to draw individuals into a relationship with Himself?
What do I want God to do in my life this year? What parts of my life do I want Him to transform, reshape, or change? What kind of man/woman does he want to form me into?
My prayer is that God continues his powerful work in you this coming year and that you will know the truth of Ephesians 3 even more deeply than you do today.
I pray “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what [is] the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”