New Year’s Day is a unique holiday in that it is a celebration of time and its passing. It’s not just a date on the calendar – the calendar is the point of the holiday! On July 4, we aren’t celebrating the month of July or the fact that we’ve finally made it to the 185th day of the year; we remember the events that took place on that day and what they have meant for this nation. But on January 1, we mark that the calendar has changed and that we’re in a new year. It is a time to mark a new start, a new opportunity, a new and unspoiled page on the calendar.
Scripture affirms this impulse. The passing of time is something to be noted and observed carefully. Time is a gift, and God expects us to be stewards of it. As Moses prayed in Psalm 90, we must learn how to “number our days” properly. But the dawning of a new year can sometimes be challenging. On the one hand, it’s possible the previous year was great for you. Perhaps your ministry is going well, your family is thriving, and your health is good. If that’s the case, you might have high hopes for the coming year.
But on the other hand, it’s possible the previous year was painful for you. Perhaps you experienced loss, disappointment, or physical infirmity. And while a new year might offer you a fresh start, you cannot know whether things will be better or worse in the coming year.
Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, as we do at the beginning of January, is a unique reminder that we don’t have the final say over what happens to us. We might make resolutions and determine to improve certain aspects of our lives, but in the end, we must admit that many of the most important things that happen to us are beyond our control. It might be that the best way to mark the arrival of another year is to stop and think about where we can wisely put our trust in the coming year, no matter what happens.
The Lord speaks to his people regarding that very issue through the prophet Jeremiah:
The Lord uses the vivid image of trees to show us the two kinds of people in the world. One type of person thrives and flourishes like a green and fruitful tree. We might think of this person as someone with joy, someone who is steady, gracious, loving, strong, and kind. The second kind of person is shriveled, like a shrub that has turned in on itself. He is thorny, stooped, and brittle. We might think of this person as someone full of fear, controlling, bitter, critical, and anxious.
What is it that separates the first kind of person from the second? You can see how that’s a critical question for us to answer as we stand on the precipice of a new year. Will the coming year be marked by flourishing strength or withering weakness? Jeremiah points us to two issues in determining which kind of “tree” we will be.
First, there is the matter of where we locate our trust (verse 5 and twice in verse 7). This means the thing that most fundamentally distinguishes between people resides in their hearts. Whatever else, the one thing at the root of the distinction between a gnarled shrub of a person and a flourishing tree is where they locate their trust. It’s not too strong to say that the most important thing about you is what you trust in, what you put your hope in, and where you invest your heart. Everything else about you – your job, looks, intelligence, achievement, good deeds done for others – is of secondary importance. Either you are trusting in something that can meet your needs and satisfy your soul at the deepest level, or you are trusting in something that will finally leave you parched, shriveled, and without anything to sustain your life when it matters most.
The second issue relates to how we survive and adapt when things become difficult. Under the best circumstances, we can all do well. A tree planted in a mild climate with plenty of rain and sunshine will probably thrive. In the same way, if the coming year brings you no challenges or difficulties, you will probably be fine. But we all know that life in this world, under the curse of sin, never goes smoothly for too long. Thus the Lord speaks of desert conditions (v. 6) and what happens when the heat comes (v. 8) in your life. When the scorching blaze of adversity and trial beats down on you, it’s at that point that your foundation will be exposed, and it will be clear whether you have invested your trust wisely.
The first man, the shriveled thorn bush of a person, is characterized by trust in the strength of men (v. 5). This is the person whose heart has turned “away from the Lord.” The book of Jeremiah shows us that the people of Judah had been living in just this way, embracing idolatry, disobedience, and foreign alliances as they looked to Babylon to protect them from the Assyrians and the Egyptians. God presents us with what is essentially a binary universe. There are only two ways to live: you either trust in your own strength and the wisdom and accuracy and honesty of your own heart, or you trust in the Lord.
Those are the only two options. The first option takes many different forms. It can look conservative, and it can look liberal. It can look moral, or it can look debauched. But it’s all a variety of the same thing – self-trust, self-rule, and autonomy. We put our trust in man whenever we listen to the pundits, the experts, the talking heads, the wisdom of the world, the celebrities, and the spirit of the age (Ephesians 2:1-3). Whenever we put our confidence in what other humans believe to be wise, good, and true that contradicts God’s Word, we trust in the flesh. But the Lord is clear: that hope will leave you dry in the end. It won’t be any help to you when the heat comes. There are few things worse than being left on your own in this way, without roots and without access to strength and life beyond yourself.
Instead of living another year in that spiritual desert, the Lord invites us to trust in him and walk in his ways – the way of blessing. This doesn’t mean there will be no heat in your life and no times of drought. You can be sure the new year will bring good things and struggles, both spring rains and some blistering heat. But the Lord Jesus came and died for us. He trusted in the Lord and yet suffered our curse on the cross, so we would have access to unending streams of living water when we need them (John 4:10). In the coming year, there will be many things that we cannot control or change. But by God’s grace, we can commit ourselves to trust in the Lord, and so be trees that thrive in the coming year.
The post Trust in the Lord in the New Year appeared first on Focus on the Family.
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Scripture affirms this impulse. The passing of time is something to be noted and observed carefully. Time is a gift, and God expects us to be stewards of it. As Moses prayed in Psalm 90, we must learn how to “number our days” properly. But the dawning of a new year can sometimes be challenging. On the one hand, it’s possible the previous year was great for you. Perhaps your ministry is going well, your family is thriving, and your health is good. If that’s the case, you might have high hopes for the coming year.
But on the other hand, it’s possible the previous year was painful for you. Perhaps you experienced loss, disappointment, or physical infirmity. And while a new year might offer you a fresh start, you cannot know whether things will be better or worse in the coming year.
Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, as we do at the beginning of January, is a unique reminder that we don’t have the final say over what happens to us. We might make resolutions and determine to improve certain aspects of our lives, but in the end, we must admit that many of the most important things that happen to us are beyond our control. It might be that the best way to mark the arrival of another year is to stop and think about where we can wisely put our trust in the coming year, no matter what happens.
The Lord speaks to his people regarding that very issue through the prophet Jeremiah:
The Lord uses the vivid image of trees to show us the two kinds of people in the world. One type of person thrives and flourishes like a green and fruitful tree. We might think of this person as someone with joy, someone who is steady, gracious, loving, strong, and kind. The second kind of person is shriveled, like a shrub that has turned in on itself. He is thorny, stooped, and brittle. We might think of this person as someone full of fear, controlling, bitter, critical, and anxious.
What is it that separates the first kind of person from the second? You can see how that’s a critical question for us to answer as we stand on the precipice of a new year. Will the coming year be marked by flourishing strength or withering weakness? Jeremiah points us to two issues in determining which kind of “tree” we will be.
First, there is the matter of where we locate our trust (verse 5 and twice in verse 7). This means the thing that most fundamentally distinguishes between people resides in their hearts. Whatever else, the one thing at the root of the distinction between a gnarled shrub of a person and a flourishing tree is where they locate their trust. It’s not too strong to say that the most important thing about you is what you trust in, what you put your hope in, and where you invest your heart. Everything else about you – your job, looks, intelligence, achievement, good deeds done for others – is of secondary importance. Either you are trusting in something that can meet your needs and satisfy your soul at the deepest level, or you are trusting in something that will finally leave you parched, shriveled, and without anything to sustain your life when it matters most.
The second issue relates to how we survive and adapt when things become difficult. Under the best circumstances, we can all do well. A tree planted in a mild climate with plenty of rain and sunshine will probably thrive. In the same way, if the coming year brings you no challenges or difficulties, you will probably be fine. But we all know that life in this world, under the curse of sin, never goes smoothly for too long. Thus the Lord speaks of desert conditions (v. 6) and what happens when the heat comes (v. 8) in your life. When the scorching blaze of adversity and trial beats down on you, it’s at that point that your foundation will be exposed, and it will be clear whether you have invested your trust wisely.
The first man, the shriveled thorn bush of a person, is characterized by trust in the strength of men (v. 5). This is the person whose heart has turned “away from the Lord.” The book of Jeremiah shows us that the people of Judah had been living in just this way, embracing idolatry, disobedience, and foreign alliances as they looked to Babylon to protect them from the Assyrians and the Egyptians. God presents us with what is essentially a binary universe. There are only two ways to live: you either trust in your own strength and the wisdom and accuracy and honesty of your own heart, or you trust in the Lord.
Those are the only two options. The first option takes many different forms. It can look conservative, and it can look liberal. It can look moral, or it can look debauched. But it’s all a variety of the same thing – self-trust, self-rule, and autonomy. We put our trust in man whenever we listen to the pundits, the experts, the talking heads, the wisdom of the world, the celebrities, and the spirit of the age (Ephesians 2:1-3). Whenever we put our confidence in what other humans believe to be wise, good, and true that contradicts God’s Word, we trust in the flesh. But the Lord is clear: that hope will leave you dry in the end. It won’t be any help to you when the heat comes. There are few things worse than being left on your own in this way, without roots and without access to strength and life beyond yourself.
Instead of living another year in that spiritual desert, the Lord invites us to trust in him and walk in his ways – the way of blessing. This doesn’t mean there will be no heat in your life and no times of drought. You can be sure the new year will bring good things and struggles, both spring rains and some blistering heat. But the Lord Jesus came and died for us. He trusted in the Lord and yet suffered our curse on the cross, so we would have access to unending streams of living water when we need them (John 4:10). In the coming year, there will be many things that we cannot control or change. But by God’s grace, we can commit ourselves to trust in the Lord, and so be trees that thrive in the coming year.
The post Trust in the Lord in the New Year appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...