Everyone desires new things. However, not everyone gets new things. Of course, it is a new year. So, we all rejoice. It is not yet clear though how new the year is for some people.
We all get happy when new things happen to us, especially on the positive side. We are happy when we acquire new things. As kids, we get excited when we receive new toys, even if we break them the next minute and cry thereafter. As adults, we are happy when we get new clothes, new houses, new cars, new wives or husbands and children.
New things don’t just happen though. We cause new things to happen, most of the time. That is why I said though we may desire new things, not everyone gets them. What you don’t work for, you don’t deserve.
A student that fails to study shall not be promoted to the new class. An indolent or truant worker shall not be promoted to the new level as others who worked hard
In the things of God, the same principle applies. God has promised us new things in the scriptures.
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19.
Only those who don’t get carried away by the present or past accomplishments or failures get the new thing. Only those who do away with the old and indecorous lifestyles and don the new get new things. The new things are bold. They are visible to even the blind.
Does not the Bible tell us that any man in Christ is a new creature? Have old things passed away and you become new?
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Are you still stuck in those old sinful ways and expecting new things? They won’t happen.
Everyone is looking forward to the New Year. How prepared are you to receive it now that it is here? Did you carry the ghost of last year to haunt you in the New Year and still call it new? There can only be a disappointment if you do because such a weird mixture is alien to God.
If you want new things to happen in the New Year, then you must be ready to change your ways. You must be ready to do away with old habits and old associates that lure you away from God. Those who thrive on lying should desist. Those who waste and feed on the blood of the innocent should turn a new leaf or be wasted. You don’t sow evil seeds and expect to reap a good harvest. When you sow moth-infested seeds, they won’t even germinate. If perchance they manage to sprout, they shall produce an abominable harvest.
Paul, as Saul, was a bandit, much like the draft Shekau, the late Boko Haram leader. However, when he encountered the Lord and decided to do new things, he was much smarter and wiser and chose not to die as Shekau did. He caused new things to happen to him; he chose to do away with his old sinful garment of Saul. He never stopped and bore eloquent testimony of his newness in the risen Christ.
How new are you? Or how would you like to be in the New Year? Is there evidence of your newness? Do people still see the old you while making pretensions to be new?
What do you really expect in the New Year? How prepared are you for the new things on offer? Will you absent yourself from fellowships as before? Will you obey the Lord or make excuses? Will you continue to be a wine bibber like the perishing fool for whom it is made?
What you may not know is that the New Year is old already. Very soon, we would be ushering in 2024. Don’t be caught napping; whatever you want to do, do it now. HAPPY NEW YEAR!