Turning over the calendar often inspires us to think in new directions, commit ourselves to new projects and so on. But try as we might, decisions and habits we made in the old year still haunt us into the new.
It is not unlike our new life in Christ. When we make that decision to take on the mantle of faith and commit ourselves to the Lord Jesus, the “old man” of sin and doubt gives way to the “new man” and we commit to going to church and reading our bible and prayer. But like the old year, the old man has a way of haunting us with past sins and pleasures that derail us from our new life in Christ.
As Pail writes in Romans 7, “wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?” Thankfully, God did not leave us alone, for we have gained a new ability in this new life, and He is more than an ability, but the presence of God in the Holy Spirit. Your might have forgotten that the promise is to you as a child of God that when you are baptized, your heart is made pure by the blood of Jesus, so that the Holy Spirit may move in in power and take up residence in our heart. God makes His home with us in that moment. So that while we continue to dwell in this flesh, we have been given more than our own will to deal with temptation. We have the holiness of the Living God.
As you prepare to go into the New Year Christian, remember that God has made you new. You are no longer beholden to past temptations. You don’t have to sin, because God has freed you from sin. Instead, God calls you to holiness, and that is far more liberating. Happy New You!
God bless you all and have a Happy New Year!
Meritt Musings 