New Year’s Resolution or Sacred Stewardship?
(Read or Click Here to listen to the Podcast)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15 ESV
What are Christians supposed to do with New Year’s? Is it just another Hallmark holiday or an invitation from God?
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard over the last week express that they weren’t into New Year’s resolutions, only to then share the changes they were hoping to make in 2025.
Human beings are unique in that God has put within us the desire to improve and the freedom to choose whether to move in the direction God is calling us or another way. A sacred stewardship, God gives us the precious gift of our lives to spend as we choose.
If God created humans this way, instead of the New Year being about making resolutions, could it be a reminder of our sacred stewardship and a fresh invitation to reorient ourselves to receive the abundant life God has for us?
And is there a biblical connection to this holiday and the ritual of setting resolutions?
As it turns out, there is! In the Old Testament the people of Israel observed seven annual festivals (Leviticus 23), when they took time away from their ordinary lives to worship. Then, reorient their lives back to their highest priorities; God, their families, and neighbors, and to straighten any crooked areas where they had gotten off track or polluted by the world.
Although through Christ, we have been given a new covenant and are no longer bound to festivals and holy days, the good that we can hold onto from the Old Testament example of the festivals is the importance of regular times to pause and worship, reflect and re-orient our lives back to God’s plan. As God’s children, we need to do this regularly.
New Year’s offers the perfect opportunity. The problem is that the way our culture has trained us to do it by making resolutions and the way God calls us to, are very different.
Chatting with a friend recently, our conversation turned to the year ahead. The countless possibilities for the New Year poured out. Before we knew it the vast number of ideas left us feeling more overwhelmed than inspired.
As we sat silently, gazing across the table at each other, a more important question surfaced—not, “What could you do, or do you dream of doing in the year ahead?” but, “What do you believe God is asking of you this year, and what steps do you need to take to faithfully do those things?”
Within a minute or so, we each responded with a much simpler, clearer answer.
What is most important about the new year is not buying a gym membership or making elaborate lists of all the things you’re going to change. But recognizing this 1st day of the year, as an opportunity to worship, put your highest priorities in place again, and to ask the Lord what people, and responsibilities, he is calling you to in the year ahead.
Then, like Joshua and God’s people thousands of years ago, draw a line in the sand, get rid of the things you need to, and put the things in place to walk sincerely and faithfully with him. Then celebrate as God’s precious child, the sacred stewardship of this new year and the gift of choice to decide this day who you will serve.
That’s the blessing of New Year’s.
~ Lori
P.S. A special gift for you … The New Year Examen Worksheet! If you’d like a little help discerning what God is saying to you for the year ahead, click the link to download your copy of the New Year Examen. A worship experience in itself, this worksheet will give you a simple way to reflect on the year that is past, pour out your gratitude to the Lord for all He has done, and clarify where He is leading you in the year ahead.
Other Resources You May Enjoy:
The New Year Examen and Your Life’s Golden Thread with Chris Slabbekoorn Sanctuary Stirrings podcast
The Sanctuary at Bear Creek Prayer Cabin If your heart is longing for time with the Savior in the new year, this beautiful, sacred space is here just for you.
Daily Audio Bible App This resource was precisely what I needed in 2024 to be faithful to the Spirit's leading to read through the Bible in a Year. It kept me on the path on days when reading didn't fit into my schedule or I needed to shake things up a bit to keep me interested. Sometimes, being faithful has everything to do with anticipating human obstacles, like boredom, and putting other provisions in place to help you overcome!