Yet another New Year: From a Believer’s Perspective

Through the course of history, calendars have changed and have been modi?ed from time to time. Di?erent countries and cultures follow different calendars and timelines even to this day, but the most commonly used calendar world over is the Gregorian calendar that we know and follow in multiple walks of life. This New Year (according to this calendar), like every ‘new year’, we think that we can start our life with a different perspective. The idea of the old year passing away and the New Year dawning changes our perspective at least for the first few days of the year.

However, as a believer, have we ever thought about what perspective should a believer have toward the change of a year? I don’t wish to enter into the question of whether a believer should ‘celebrate’ a New Year or not. I hope the readers are mature enough to have a spiritual understanding, perspective, and conviction about this.

Let me however, in this article draw your attention to the right perspective a believer should have as every year passes by looking at 2 Peter 3:11, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness!”

In our lives, as days, weeks, months, and years pass, there is something every believer should focus on, and that is God’s timetable for mankind. The world that we live in is going from bad to worse. No matter the technological advancements or the increase in the scope of man’s knowledge, it is evident that we are seeing physical, moral, and spiritual degradation in the lives of mankind.

Moreover, Peter, in the concluding part of his writings, gives us a challenge. He says, one day all this will pass away, and only those who have experienced new-birth or salvation by putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be partakers of the heavenly glory; they will inherit and inhabit the new heavens and the new earth. Keeping this wondrous future in mind, our perspective about the present needs to change, and our lives should re?ect that change in our perspective.

Peter says further, “…what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness!”

• Holy conversation: anastrophé (Gr.) - conduct, manner of life. This speaks to us of our conduct with each other

• Godliness: eusebeia (Gr.) – piety. This speaks to us of our commitment to the Lord

The problem with many Christians today is that we are focused too much on the temporal and material aspects of life. We spend so much time on possessions, popularity, and position that in the sel?sh ambition to attain those goals, we lose track of the things that actually matter.

As each year passes, there is one reality that we should understand. We are living in this world but for a while before we go into the realm of eternity in the presence of God. And this life that we have here, we need to spend with the people whom the Lord has kept around us. Sometimes, when someone does not behave with us as we want them to behave, we are so full of what we think and how we feel about the whole situation. Thereby, we hold grudges; we gossip; we begin to hate; and this eventually brings divisions in families and assemblies.

There are so many passages in the Bible about Christian conduct. Here are few that concern the following:

The nine-fold fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our lives instead of the works of the ?esh (cf. Gal 5: 19-23). In all our conversations, may we prepare ourselves for all that the Lord has laid in store for us!

Our life is nothing without the Lord in it. Though we might know this in principle, our practice should exhibit it. Our piety or devotion toward the Lord does not come through good works alone. We need to know why we do what we do. The Christian life is focused upon the purpose of our calling, which is “to be con?rmed to the image of His Son”, our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). And how can we be conformed to the image of the Lord? The question is how can we grow every day to be changed into his likeness day by day?

If we don’t read the Word in the ?rst place, how can we know what to obey? Sadly, we have relegated the Bible to meetings in the local assemblies, and seldom in most houses do we even see a family altar! Even if we have a Quiet Time (personal Bible study), it is relegated to reading 10 verses and a short prayer. It is about time we become men and women of the Word. Spending time with the Word is a process that can be best summarized in Ezra 7:10.

Furthermore, only listening to messages and not changing our lives is like looking at our dishevelled faces in the mirror and going out just like that. Would you ever go out like that? How much more are we supposed to accept the Word of God in our lives and let the water of the Word remove all the ?lth and dross from our lives after looking into it?

If we do not obey, the Lord may use the words that he uses in Luke 6:46 with us as well. We need to be like the wise man mentioned further in Luke 6:47, 48; this strong foundation comes by doing and not just hearing (James 1:22-25).

How beautiful and wonderful it is to know that God came into this world as a Man! Not only did God tell us in His Word regarding what we should do, but He also has shown us how we should live. What a wonderful Lord we have! He has shown us by His own example how we are supposed to live in this world! He is there to bear our burdens and carry us through the ups and downs of life. All we need to do is to follow the example set by Him (Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 12:1-2).

As we pass into one more year in our lives, let us therefore, listen to the words that we heard from God and live our lives for His glory. Let this not be a resolution for a New Year, but rather a resolve that will help us to live with a heavenly perspective in this world. May the Lord help us to do so.

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