2023 Advent Devotional - Isaiah 43:19 (Day 31)

A New Thing
Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”

If you’re reading this on New Years Eve, first of all “Happy NEW Year”.  Today we’re at the END of 2023 and tomorrow we BEGING 2024!  Wow!  How’s YOUR year been?  What were some of the good things?  What were the challenges?  How have each changed your life?  Drawn you deeper into your relationship with God?  Blessed you?  Or, caused you pain?  

This day in our culture is typically a day of celebration and over indulgence. Typical of our culture, we’d rather have a good time, forget the bad and enjoy ourselves for awhile.  And while there’s nothing “wrong” with celebration, If we’re not intentional, we can miss the richness and depth this day can bring.  That’s actually the idea behind a “New Years Resolution”!  You “resolve” to make some changes in the “New Year”.  The slate is clean and it’s time to make some changes!  The common experience about New Year’s Resolutions is that within a short time, those resolutions are forgotten and you revert back to the way things “were” or “have always been”.  

POINT:  CHANGE IS HARD!  

So, how can we “change” when our “old” nature is always trying to keep things the way things were?  

Well, our text for this last day of the calendar year gives us some help!  First, notice “WHO” is doing the work?  “Behold “I”….God….is doing a new thing!  We are very limited in our ability!  Why?  Well, that’s because of our sin nature.  Sin has make us “less”.  It’s bound us to things are are ineffective, corrupt, not able to live in the way we were designed.  This is our “old nature”.  But when you have received the Gift God gave.  When you receive Jesus and believe He’s your Savior from the “old”, God does a NEW work in you and through you.  This is why the Bible says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17

This verse is actually Alive In Christ’s foundation verse!  This verse is what we are to be about!  Bringing the “new” life of Jesus to all around us!  SO, if you want to change.  If you desire something “new”, that’s something that God desires too!  So how do we receive it?  Walk in it?  Live it?  Well, on the eve of a “New Year”, why not “resolve” to draw closer to Jesus!  Why not resolve to listen to Him daily in His Word?  Why not resolve to love God more by worshipping Him and thanking for the Gift of Jesus in your life?  Why not resolve to be more open with other about the new life He’s given you and why not resolve to allow Him to change you!  May He bring a “new thing” in your life this New Year!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for this past year!  All the blessings and even the challenges!  Father, help me love YOU more!  Help me love Jesus MORE!  Help me follow Your Holy Spirit MORE!  Father, help me resolve to orient my life around YOU and be glorifies in and through my life all the days You give me in 2024!  In Jesus Name. AMEN!  - By Pastor Tim