The Best of the New Year is Old

Have you been lured by the promise of the quick fix? It’s that time of year! See if you relate to any of these:

• If I follow that healthy food influencer and adopt that particular diet, surely I’ll eat healthier! (Here’s looking at you, Teri Turner from No Crumbs Left Behind.)
• If I buy that lovely planner/use that fancy pen/become a boss at color coding, I will be organized every minute of every day of 2024!
• If I download that money app, I am sure to save lots of money!

How do I fall for this every year? As though doing something new will automatically make life better? As though a quick fix ever lasts.

The reason it doesn’t work is because I am still the same person. I am inclined toward the cookies and not the carrots. I am organized much of the time but never 100% of the time. I mostly steward money wisely, but I veer off the designated road when Instagram has customized its every ad just for me!

So here it is, the unwelcomed news of the first day of this new year: The very best 2024 has to offer is nothing new!

Beneath the piles of quick fix promises is one old promise that never wears out. The shiny promises come and go, but this one remains: Jesus’ love is enough for you.

I know, so simple it’s boring. Not shiny or flashy; it won’t make you rich or skinny; you need not have your life together to receive it. Jesus’ love is enough.

Simeon comes to mind, the old guy in Luke’s gospel who waited for God to do something new to make life better. And Anna, the woman whose story is intertwined with his. She went to the temple every single day “with fasting and prayer” to hear a word from the Lord. These two were waiting for a new Word from God which was really the old promise from God. Jesus’ love was enough for these two who had waited a lifetime.

What does this old promise mean for you this new year?

• God’s dream for you has nothing to do with how you look. Nothing at all. Any quick fix promise from a product you can buy invites some conversation with God. Why that product? What difference might it make if you buy it or don’t? Jesus’ love is enough.
• Jesus does not love people based on body type. Your body is a uniquely made gift. Paul even calls it a temple! Be gentle on yourself. You are not expected to look like anyone but you.
• Resolutions are meant to be helpful guides, maybe like road signs encouraging you to move toward well-being. They do not define you. When one flops, you can start over. The whole point is being well. Being super hard on yourself misses the point.

As new year, quick fix promises come and go, how might God’s old promise stay with you? Jesus’ love is enough for you all year long.

Photo by Jamez Picard on Unsplash