“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”” Revelation 21:1-5.

A new start.

That’s what everyone is looking for today. The last day of the year with the new year starting tomorrow. A chance to begin again and hopefully make the coming year better than this one.

But is it really a new start? Is everything really made new? Down here, not really.

When you get down to it, tomorrow will be just like yesterday, just like today. A continuation of what has been. Yes, you can make some changes in the way you’re doing things, hopefully for the better. And many people do.

But all you can really hope for is a change in direction. A change in attitude. A change in perspective. All changes dealing with the same problems and issues you have today.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s great. We really need to be doing a checkup on our attitudes and actions on a daily basis rather than waiting until the end of the year.

I guess it’s just the spot on the calendar when we realize the date has changed, and it gives us motivation to try to make the changes in us.

But the day is coming when all things are going to be made new. It won’t be just a slight adjustment to the way things are. Everything that is will be done away with and everything, EVERYTHING will be made new. Something wonderful to look forward to.

Unfortunately, while we don’t know how far into the future that’s going to happen, we do know that a lot of terrible things will take place before it gets here. And those who have to go through those things are going to have an awful time.

So what’s my point?

The point is, no one has to go through the terrible time to get to the new stuff. Jesus Christ came to earth some two thousand years ago to take care of everything. The scriptures tell us that He came so we could have life and that we could have it more abundantly. He not only fixed it so we wouldn’t have to die for our sins, but He arranged things so our lives would be better. Down here and when we get up there.

I know. I just got finished saying that nothing really changes down here. And it doesn’t.

But we do.

You see, if we have a relationship with Jesus, the changes He made are to us, not necessarily to our environment. He does help us out with things from time to time, but the real deal is how He’s changed us and how we respond to what’s around us.

And He suggests that we deal with stuff down here on a daily basis because we don’t know how long we’ll be here. We’re not even promised tomorrow. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34.

So I have a couple of suggestions for the new year. If you want to make resolutions for new or different behavior, fine. And I hope you’re able to hold to them and complete them.

But the ones I suggest making are these. First, if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, fix that today. Realize you are a sinner, you have committed at least one sin in your life, and that you can’t pay for that sin yourself. Then recognize that Jesus has already paid for that sin, so just confess it, repent of it, ask Jesus to forgive you for it, and surrender your life to Him. He’ll make sure you avoid the nasty stuff that’s coming before He makes everything new.

And second, decide that in this new year, you’re going to take each day as it comes. You’re going to evaluate what you did or didn’t do the day before and make any needed changes as the new day starts. Ask Jesus to give you what you need for that day. And see what He does with it.

And if we make it through another year, we’ll come to the end, not looking for another new start, but realizing Jesus gave us three hundred sixty-five new starts, all year long.

I pray God’s riches blessings to you and yours in the new year.

Happy New Year!!

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Do you know Jesus? Do you have a personal relationship with Him? According to scripture, all anyone must do is recognize their sin condition, realize that Christ died to pay for that sin, and ask Him to save them from it. Salvation is a gift of grace we receive by faith. Meet Him today! Contact me at kenneth@kennethmbriggs.com if you need more information.

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