The Standard January 4, 2025
At this time of year, a lot of us could use a fresh start. Maybe in the last few weeks we have gotten stressed out too much or eaten too much or spent too much. In 2025, and actually on any day of any year, we can have a new beginning with God.
In the New American Standard translation, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The J.B. Phillips version reads, “For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” Finally, the more modern The Message paraphrases the verse and surrounding ones by saying, “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.”
Of course, our actions have consequences, and a fresh start does not erase certain realities. The mercy and forgiveness of the Lord can completely change our outlook and future, however. We want to be mindful of how God has repeatedly and faithfully provided for us. We should not get bogged down by dwelling on memories that stifle our growth if we fail to process them in a healthy, God-centered manner. A fresh start means realizing the sure hope we have that God will continue to intervene in new and tremendous ways.
“This is what the Lord says – he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’” Isaiah 43:16-19
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