The upcoming New Year's Day signifies that 2017 is almost over and 2018 is just around the corner.
For many people, it seems that the holiday just gives them one more day off and is not a new thing.
Things occur repeatedly in the world. So the Bible claims, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look! This is something new'? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
But Christmas comes before the holiday as a day to remember the birth of Jesus. God did a new thing then: He delivered his one and only Son in the form of a human being to the world, who suffered misery and was crucified on the cross for all the sins of men.
His redemption was unprecedented. So it is a time to meditate on God's grace and the birth of His Son and set goals for the new year and complete what was not accomplished in the last.
Bible passages on gratitude:
Psalm 105:1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
God's blessings for us:
Psalm 65:11-12 You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.
Psalm 65:9-10 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
Psalm 23:4-6 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Deuteronomy 11:13-15 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today-to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
New goal and direction:
Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
- Translated by Karen Luo
