New Year, New... Notebook - Emily Woodard

 

I’m not normally the “New Year’s Resolutions” type but I do love fresh starts. A new notebook, a clean calendar, another try at a read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, a book with crisp pages and unbroken spine… all these excite within me the possibility of being more organized and bring with them the hope of a more productive and less stressful existence. It’s probably my own pessimism (or fear of failure) that keeps me from wanting to formalize dreams and goals in the form of resolutions, but I can certainly understand the appeal of the process. Though we hear a lot (and surely will again, come February or so) about broken resolutions, failed diets, and unused gym memberships, there are also success stories of good habits made or bad ones broken.Christians and non-Christians alike can, and sometimes do, succeed at keeping new commitments or reaching goals. But adanger associated with the idea of resolutions is confusing self-improvement with sanctification, and organizational or nutritional success with value and worth. There is a subtle temptation to think that with some goal setting and will power, I have the power to become a better version of myself. This danger being recognized, the ‘self-help section’ of the bookstore has become an easy target for Christians who (rightly) believe that we cannot save ourselves and understand that ‘winning friends and influencing people’ isn’t the same as building the kingdom of God. But isn’t the desire for self-improvement a noble goal and evidence of a world that knows on some level that the human condition is fallen and in need of redemption? 

 

We don’t have to look further than the mirror to be reminded of the effects of the fall and the impact of (our) sin in the world. Even so, news stories provide constant proof of our world’s need for redemption and renewal. From politics to public health, local crime rates to global humanitarian crises, creation groans and nations rage. We may not be living in a uniquely chaotic time, but the headlines are fresh, and each generation must learn anew that God is our refuge and strength, even when the world seems to be falling away (Ps. 46:1-2). A consistently encouraging truth, one I’ve heard referenced numerous times in the last few years,is that of God’s sovereignty. Pandemics, election results, hurricane seasons, and military operations don’t change the factthat “our God is in the heavens [and] he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3). He is the one who “changes times and seasons” and removes and sets up kings (Dan. 2:21). Of course, corresponding to his sovereignty is God’s eternal nature and omnipotence. He is not only seated on his throne, he has been and will be for all time and no power of earth or heaven can unseat him. He is the LORD and he does not change, “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). That means his promises are kept, his purposes are fulfilled, and our salvation is secure. 

 

We do not share God’s attribute of immutability. We are often unfaithful and “prone to wander” as the hymnwriter suggests. Our lack of consistency (and that of others) can be a major source of frustration in our lives. But the fact that we can change is good news, too. (1) It means that we can grow, that we can put off the old and put on the new, that we can more and more die to sin and live for Christ. Paul exhorts the Philippians and us, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). Our working does not happen apart from God’s working in us (2:13), but we are still responsible for an active role in our own sanctification. Perhaps that means taking decisive action to mortify the desires of the flesh or maybe it is intentional planning to cultivate more regular participation in the means of grace such as Bible reading or prayer. And for some of us, maybe that is more likely to happen as a result of specific goals or resolutions (maybe with a clean calendar or new notebook). Certainly, I don’t mean to conflate self-improvement aspirations with the process of sanctification, but a new year can be a great time to stop and think about our spiritual health. Resting in the grace and assurance of the gospel, we are free to live for Christ and to seek day by day to be more and more transformed into the likeness of him. As we enter 2022, let us encourage one another towards this and pray for one another as Paul prayed for the Colossians, that we may each “be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). Happy New Year!

 

(1) I am grateful for Jen Wilkin’s chapter on immutability in None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different from Us (and why that’s a good thing), Crossway, 2016.