Buon giorno. First of all, I want to wish you all a Felice Anno Nuovo. May God bless you and yours in 2012.
Do you like that image? I grabbed one that's been circulating on the Web and did some adjusting in Paint dot Net.
Anyway.
Why people get all excited about the changing of calendars escapes me. We went from 2011 to 2012. Be still, my beating heart! Sorry, but there is no magic in the passage of time. We are not transformed into new creatures with our past mistakes left far behind simply because crowds chanted, "3...2...1...Happy New Year!" in time zones around the world. Don't we all know that we're kidding ourselves with this false salvation?
I am not changing my mind or regretting my previous posts about getting ready for the New Year, because I do believe in the psychology of it. That is, holidays are over and this is a great time to set goals and put plans into motion. I had my annual New Year's shower to symbolically wash off the previous year, shaved with new razor blades, put on a new shirt, going to start to read a new Bible version on my new Kindle Touch, I'm sitting here writing a new article.
When I looked into the mirror, I saw the homely face that I had on December 31. Writing at the same computer, living in the same place — I'm still the same old me, capice?
While I was working on this article, Thunderbird needed to update itself again, to 3.1.7. (Strange, they spent a long time without doing anything, then it seems like it's updating itself twice a week!) Then, Firefox needed to update itself as well, to 9.01. The other day, I ran CCleaner and it updated itself to 3.14.1616. When these things get updated, I can see the changes sometimes, but other times, no. In essence, they're still the same Thunderbird, Firefox and CCleaner at their cores.
What about you? Are you thrilled that you changed the calendar and that it is a "new year"? Sure, you and I have some things planned for 2012. (Maybe you'll want to join me in laughing at the doomsday people on December 22, 2012.) We all have hopes, plans, dreams. And we all have baggage; our mistakes, crimes, hateful words, sins, hurtful actions have still happened, and some of them have consequences that linger.
Are you tired of playing games with wishing that New Year's Day had some kind of power in it to make real changes in your life? I have good news. Transformation is possible. That can happen when we come to God on his terms.
First, I am not going to tell you that if you get right with God, all your problems will disappear and life will be peachy keen. Some people treat God like a cosmic Santa Claus to grant us wishes, or a bandage to make us feel good. It's not easy to be a follower of Christ, but it's worth it. He gives fulness of life, and he is always there with us (Heb. 13.5-6).
Let me explain.
Aside from doing philosophical and (il)logical gymnastics, we all know deep down inside that God exists (Rom. 1.19-20). We may try to earn his pleasure through being a "good person" or being "religious", but the fact remains that all of us have sinned (Rom. 3.23). God is holy (Joshua 24.19), and cannot look upon sin (Isaiah 59.2, Habakkuk 1.13). We have all sinned before a holy God, and the price to pay is death (Rom. 6.23). The good news, however, is that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6.23, John 3.16). God has been patient so that we can surrender to him (Exodus 34.6, Psalm 86.15, 1 Peter 3.20, 2 Peter 3.15). Until we make him the Lord of our lives, God's wrath remains on us (John 3.36).
What we have happening here is a legal transaction. Jesus is God in the flesh (as we kept hearing in the Christmas carols), (John 1.1, John 1.13, Col. 1.15-16). He lived a sinless life (Heb. 4.14-15). God in the flesh died on the cross to take our punishment for sin (Gal. 2.20, Isaiah 53.5, Romans 4.25). When he shouted out, "It is finished!" (John 19.30), (in Greek, tetelestai, τετέλεσται). It was an accounting term meaning, "paid in full". The resurrection of Jesus was the evidence that God accepted the sacrifice of his only Son on our behalf (Romans 6.4, 1 Peter 1.21, 1 Cor. 15.3-6).
But it's not automatic.
We must actively choose to accept the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins (John 1.12), and to make him the first place in our lives (Rom. 6.4, Eph. 2.10, Titus 2.14). Then, we can have that transformation that we have been kidding ourselves about with the false salvation of New Year's Day! People who believe in only material things and in scientism (all knowledge must be obtained through science, or it is not valid) cannot understand these things because they presuppose that there is nothing beyond the physical; these are spiritual matters (1 Cor. 2.14). The truth is, when you receive Christ as your savior, you are born again (John 3.3, 1 Peter 1.23). We are changed (2 Cor. 5.17), and have a new life (Rom. 6.4)!
If you want to know more, you can watch a really cool video here, listen to a short presentation, take the eight-question test here, or write to me (the e-mail is in the profile). I sincerely hope and pray that you will seriously consider this message and take it to heart.
By the way, putting it off is a bad idea. After this life is over, there are no second chances (Heb. 9.27).
