Another (new) year ...

I ran in the cold, rainy mist on the next to last day of 2009. Normally, not a big deal, but following a year of a slow to heal calf injury and missing the Rock n Roll Marathon in June (a shot at qualifying for the Boston Marathon falling by the wayside), slowly getting back into the routine, and on a less than optimal day was, for me, anyway, a major achievement.

And it was a pretty nice way to end a year that, for a lot of us, didn't go the way we had hoped.

Dave Griffin said this in an article for RunningTimes.com, "Why Stepping Out the Door on a Cold Rainy Day Is Important":

I imagine as December moves us towards Christmas and then the New Year, you’ll be doing some reflecting. Another year is over, and with it leaves the promise its days offered. Sometimes, that kind of reflection can lead to regret. Don’t let it.

Instead, focus on the year ahead and the unwritten chapters of your life. What is it that you want to do? And, perhaps more importantly, who is it that you want to become?

For me, it brought to mind one of those "life verses" that some of us have written not only in our heads, but our hearts as well:

Isaiah 43: 18-19 (NIV)

“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 desert
and streams in the wasteland."

In more modern terms, as Eugene Peterson’s The Message (paraphrase) has it:

“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!
I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."

We who believe in and follow God know that He is faithful to carry out what He says He will do. And He is constantly making new things and renewing other things (like us). We need to have an attitude of worship and awe, to know that He is the one true God, and that he became flesh and blood in the form of Jesus to save us from ourselves. And because of that act of forgiveness and redemption, we shouldn't dwell (or focus) on the past – both our successes and failures – because there are some new things the Lord is constantly doing in us and around us.

So, we acknowledge what has happened. We learn the lessons we need to learn. If it’s some success that we’ve had, praise God for that success. Most of all, remember that He is God and you and I are not … and MOVE ON.

We move on because He’s doing a new thing. In the context the book of Isaiah, the new thing is the work being done to bring the Messiah through the nation of Israel to redeem all mankind. Also, because He is God, He knows that after the Babylonian captivity (which God foretold through a list of prophets, such as Isaiah, in the Old Testament) He will bring His people back to their land … and in the BIG Biblical picture … the new thing is the coming new heavens and new earth foretold in Revelation.

Interesting to note: this is NOT the first time the Lord says this. In Isaiah 42:8-9:

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.

See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”

When you read the Bible closely, not only do you realize that the one true God is THE Creator (Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth …”) He also renews and makes things new again.

Revelation 21:5
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Stuff to think about as we move into 2010:

Don’t beat yourself up over past failures, past sins. And don’t allow others to do that to you. Know, as a follower of Christ Jesus, that you are forgiven. Turn away from that past.

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Move on! It sounds really elementary, yet how many of us are actually getting up, leaving the past behind an allowing God to lead us to the new thing?

Philippians 3:12-14
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, 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.”

Look ahead. God’s got something really cool in the making. We just need to be paying attention. It is, after all, a new year ...

The Charlie Hall Band
Jan. 1, 2009
Charlie and the guys play "New Year" backstage in a giant exhibit hall in San Jose, CA, right at the turn of 2009 ...

Link for the Facebook note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd9BTMjcEBE

New Year
Charlie Hall, Kendall Combes © 2008 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) CCLI Song No. 5208359

My heart beats like a drum
Flying up with the sun
I grab your hand again renovated with life
My eyes again bright and You are radiant

Where hope can hold the hand of sorrow
And we can walk into tomorrow
Where peace is found in troubled days
And the joy of Jesus carries pain

This is a new year
This is new day to rise, shine
Lift up your eyes
This is a new year
This is a new day to rise, shine
And point the way to God's great life

I'm held in a place a beautiful space
Where heaven meets the earth
My heart opens wide and the Father pours life
Deep inside my soul