Encouragement For Your New Year: A Devotion

 Encouragement For Your New Year: A Devotion

Good morning brothers and sisters. My name is Stuart Davidson and I am the pastor here at Eastern Shore Baptist Church. I hope that all of you had a fantastic Christmas and it is my prayer that all of you have a happy and healthy New Year. I cannot think of a better way to start this new year, 2023, than to be right here, right now in God’s presence, among His people. So thank you for being here this morning. Thank you for coming to worship God this morning. 

Many of you have been thinking and praying about your New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe you will try to lose that pesky 20 pounds. Maybe you will try to bring up that test score. You will reach for that promotion in 2023. Maybe you will try to get out of debt. Some of you will have more spiritual goals in mind. You will keep a spiritual journal this year. You will read through the Bible. You will have a dedicated devotion and prayer time with your family. That is one think that I love about this season. It is a time of renewal. A chance to start over, to renew, to start again. Last year when I called my parents to wish them a happy New Year, my dad answered the phone. "Well, Dad, what’s your New Year’s resolution?" I asked him. "To make your mother as happy as I can all year," he answered proudly. Then mom got on, and I said, "What’s your resolution, Mom?" "To see that your dad keeps his New Year’s resolution."

Maybe this past year was filled with ups and downs. Starts and stops. Highs and lows. You are ready for a new start. A new beginning. When it came to last year, maybe you felt a bit like Charlie Brown when he was talking to Lucy. Lucy said that life is like a deck chair. Some place it so they can see where they are going; some place it so they can see where they have been; and some place it so they can see where they are at present. Charlie Brown’s reply: “I can’t even get mine unfolded.”

Well, as your pastor, I hope that you are looking forward to your future. I pray that you are prepared for God’s goodness and you are expectant of His blessings. 

One of my heroes in the Christian faith is Jim and Elizabeth Elliott. Jim was an American missionary. He and 4 other missionary friends were killed while sharing Christ to an unreached people group in Ecuador. After his death, his wife Elizabeth, a Christian missionary in her own right, became a prolific writer. Whenever I think about the start of a new year, I am reminded of a quote that she said, “New Year’s Day is a good time to fix one’s eyes on the only One who knows what the year is to hold.” That’s true isn’t it? I wish that I could see the future but if I could, I would not need to rely or depend on God. If I could see the future, there would be no need to develop my faith or even trust Scripture. Today is a good day to fix our eyes on the only One who knows what the year is to hold.

This morning I want to read for you a brief passage of Scripture from 2 Corinthians. Specifically 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. Following that reading, I want to share with you 3 brief points that will hopefully encourage you as you stand on the doorstep of a new year, 2023. 

As members of Eastern Shore Baptist Church, we believe the Bible to be inspired, God breathed, infallible, and authoritative. We believe that the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and for training believer’s in righteousness. God’s Word has the power to give life. It provides peace in trouble and protection in tribulation. It is alive, active, and cuts to the core of the human soul. Since there is no other book like it, let us stand to show our reverence and respect. 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Maybe you were like me this past year and you felt that the last 365 days went by in a blink. It seems that the older I get, the more time speeds up. I feel I measure my year in staff meetings, in events, in weekly sermons, in retreats and revivals. Do you know 2022 taught me? 2022 taught me that time is fleeting. All of in this room are bound to this thing called time. We are all working with the same 24 hours, the same 365 days that make up our year. Time is the most valuable resource we have because no one is making more of it and when it is gone, it is gone forever. So, when it comes to time, make the most of it. Invest it in wise places. Invest your time into things that will last forever. Just the other day I conducted a funeral for a youthful 30 year old man. His passing was sudden and shocking. His passing was a reminder to make the most of the time that is afforded to us because we are not guaranteed our next breath. We are not guaranteed to make it to 2024. Do know what was discussed during that funeral? We didn’t talk about this persons retirement plan, his 401K, his stock portfolio, his material possesses or his earthy wealth. No one brought up what he did for a living or commented about what he added to the corporation’s bottom line. You never heard anyone say that they admired him because he was such a great worker and no one bragged on him for being a company man. None of those things were said although they were all true. They said that what they will remember about him the most is how he made others feel, the happiness that he brought to other’s lives, the difference that he made in people’s lives, and the character that he possessed from an obvious relationship with Christ. The Bible speaks clearly to the brevity of life and how fleeting our existence is.

Job 8:9

“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are as a shadow.

Psalm 39:11

“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are as a shadow.

Psalm 103:15-16

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,

And its place acknowledges it no longer.

James 4:14

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.

Time is fleeting. Make the most of your time. Second, history is repeating. Again, the longer that I am alive, the more I see history repeat itself. How many of you made the same old mistakes that you made the year before? I know that I did. If I could say that I wanted to make one resolution this year, I do not want to repeat the same errors of 2022 in 2023. I’ll give you a for instance. I want to guard my words more carefully in 2023. Looking back on this past year I was convicted that there are things that I said, not meaning to hurt or offend, that still hurt or offended. By the way, I am mature enough to know that there are times when speaking truth offends. That is not what I am talking about. I do not want to speak in ignorance. I do not want to share a thought without having given proper prayer to my words. I want to make sure that the things I say in private match what is being spoken in public. I bet that if I asked this congregation this morning if there was a pattern of sin that persisted from one year to the next, many of you would admit that you share in the same struggles. Perhaps you have always given too much credibility to what others think about you or say about you. Again, a moment of transparency for me to you this morning. Stuart isn’t smart. Stuart is not a good leader. Stuart isn’t a good preacher. He is not deep enough. These are all things that I heard in 2022 and my wife will tell you that I let these sentiments live rent free in my mind for way too long. One of my resolutions in 2023 is to stop allowing other’s commentary on my abilities to impact me more that what God thinks about the gifts that He has blessed me with. With the knowledge that time is fleeting, don’t let your former history repeat, making the same mistakes over and over again. Think about those sins that have had a hold on you year over year, break the cycle in 2023. I Peter I:3 reminds us that God has given us a new birth, a new day, and history does not have to repeat in 2023. "May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Time is fleeting, history is repeating but it doesn’t have too and here is the good news, your future is pleasing. That’s right folks, God has a great and glorious future for all of you, for me too. I can tell you today that God wants to prosper you, bless you, stand with you, speak to you, and grow you in 2023. This does not mean that we will not face hardship or trails. Hardly. What this means is that God wants to be your rock in the storm. He wants to hold your hand as you step out of the boat on onto the waves. He wants to turn your tragedy into a ministry and your hardship into a story of hope, blessing someone else. Preacher, how can you say that when my cancer persists? How can you say that when my family falls apart? How can you say that when when I am grieving today? I can say that today you today because that what God promises. Do not hold on to what I say to you, hold on to what God says. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 

"May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Psalm 65:11

"You crown the year with your goodness; your paths overflow with rich food."

Deuteronomy 31:8

"But the Lord is the one who is marching before you! He is the one who will be with you! He won’t let you down. He won’t abandon you. So don’t be afraid or scared!"

God is good. He loves you. He has a plan for you and it is a plan to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future. Brothers and sisters, turn your eyes to Christ. Keep your faith in His promises. Don’t let what you feel today override what He has faithfully given to you and to me. Have faith. Take heart. Let this day, the first day of 2023, be your new beginning. 

After all, the last promise that Jesus makes to us echos from Revelation 21:5. “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. '” As Christians, we can trust that the God will keep His promise.

Will you pray with me this morning?