I have a great deal of reticence towards writing a New Year’s blog – though I’m sure many people are sharing their thoughts and inspirations for 2014 – I don’t do resolutions because I’m sure I’ve broken as many as the years I’ve been alive (and considering that I’m a grandma, that is quite a few!).  Yet this morning I woke up with a feeling of optimism, a new beginning – a sense that today I have an opportunity for a brand new experience of God’s love and His grace.

Apparently the Holy Spirit does not leave us alone with our disappointments – in fact, we have God’s promise of hope for the broken, dried up, wasted areas of our lives:  “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (Isaiah 43:19, 20-21).

The amazing thing about this promise is that it is God’s provision, not my self-determination or will power that causes the Water of Life to flow into my soul.  And yet, He gives me the opportunity to participate!  That is what I woke up thinking about, in light of the indulgences of the holiday season:  eating more than usual, watching more television than usual, spending less time than usual in prayer, in the Word, and writing – essentially sowing to and indulging the flesh throughout the past month instead of my spirit.

The Bible teaches us much about sowing and reaping:  “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). …and “Do not be deceived:  God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7-9).

So this is my hope for the New Year, I am not going to make rules or establish a religious format for what I think God expects of me or what I expect of myself; instead, I am going to sow life to my spirit.  I am going to reject condemnation when I do not live up to religious expectations because “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do…For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-3, 5).

I am going to treat each day as New Year’s Day because, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  The transforming power of God’s Spirit is at work in my life, and as I focus on the glory of Jesus, He will continue to transform me into His glorious image.  I recognize that when I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to not only forgive me but also cleanse me from unrighteousness – so much freedom and cause for rejoicing in that!

My intention is to follow the encouragement of one man, who was well acquainted with his own imperfections and vulnerabilities, and yet he taught us, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).  I recognize that as we grow in His grace, our knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior will also grow.

2013 is past – I recognize victories and defeats, times of growth and times of stagnation, times of fruitfulness as well as times of doubt, yet none of these things define me.  The only one who can establish my worth is the One who chose to die so I do not have to.  So, like Paul, I will forget what is behind me and press on to what lies ahead, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  2014 lies ahead, full of hope and full of promise because those are God’s plans – His intention is to provide a future and a hope.  My response is to seek God and declare His praise; and to walk with Jesus throughout the coming year, and years ahead, the same way as I received Him—by faith.