rawls

Happy Belated New Year!?

By
Elder Rufus Rawls
Shepherd, Summit, Mississippi

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” Philippians 3:13-14 & Psalm 118:24.

Happy New Year…!? What do we really mean when we say, “Happy New Year?” Are we talking about an astronomical year, an equinoctial year, a natural, solar, or tropical year? Or, are we simply referring to a calendar or civil year, the time occupied by the earth in one revolution around the sun, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds in length? But from a Christian’s perspective, what makes 2009 a happy year? And now that the dawning days of ’09 have come and gone, what, aside from the obvious, makes it any different from the former year? Is it rejoicing and glorying over its own arrival and celebrating itself for the remaining of its reigning time? Does it have the power to change woes into joys, defeats into victories, or unrighteousness into righteousness?

The New Year, though it was celebrated throughout most of the world, asked more questions of its celebrants than it possibly has or can answer. During its celebration, however, some reckless and lustful hearts probably conceived babies during the debauchery hours that quickly faded into the last minutes of the old year. But is the old year really gone or going or will it linger in the shadows of 09? Crime, rape, drunkenness, untimely deaths, unwanted pregnancies, and all sorts of unthinkable and undesirable occurrences fell under the dubious auspices of celebrating the New Year. Resolutions, mindless, and shallow commitments ushered it in. Watch Services were held in churches of various denominations and most likely the people at Times Square in New York welcomed it in with a salutatory bang! And just as in previous times, at 12:01 a.m. it was proclaimed, “Happy New Year!” But in and of itself, the New Year is neither happy nor sad. It is simply the unfolding of a piece of timelessness into the portals of time. In truth, neither your bank account nor anything else, for that matter, automatically or miraculous changed simply because the clock turned another page, unveiling a day that may or may not be a New Year for you.

However, also in truth, each day is a small allocated disbursement of a new year, of new opportunities, of new beginnings. Therefore, what makes this year, ’09, new is not that ’08 has passed from us but that we have passed from it. Nonetheless, while the “New Year” marks a new year as such, each day ushers in the newness of today. So, what’s newer, this year or today? God does not command us to ritualistically celebrate time in general, but rather that we should celebrate today, this day! Not because it is necessarily a particular holiday, but according to Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

The Apostle Paul and the psalmist understood the importance of time. And after Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the Damascus road, his life in Christ began and everything, from that transforming moment forward became new because he was a new creature. His zealousness and ignorance were forgotten as well as his previous successes. Also, he immediately understood that he did not know Christ as intimately as Christ knew him. Nevertheless, he committed himself to forgetting and reaching. And, as he realigned his foresight and affections, he refocused his life on Christ, on reaching that goal, mark, or spiritual destination that Christ had preordained that he should attain to. His life was no longer defined by successes and neither was it lost in ashes of yesterday’s failures. He began to agree with the psalmist, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

So, the newness or antiquity of today, of your life, depends not on what the calendar says the day or year is, but by your willingness to grasp and to embrace the beauty of this day of illimitable opportunities, knowing that God created today for you and you for today. This truth and this truth along makes today a new year’s beginning. Therefore choose to press forward in the power of God’s might. If not, you will have chosen by default to be and to remain repressed by your cumulative yesterdays and yesteryears?

One last question: Is yesterday and today a hurdle or a stumbling block?