Read the Word:
Ephesians 4:17-24
Meditate on the Word:
In the New Year, it is often customary to make “New Year’s Resolutions” about what we intend to do in the new year. These are often some sort of self-improvement. The phrase used may be “new year-new you,” but in actuality, most people just want to be the same person with one or two character flaws removed. But this is not how our Lord calls us to live. We are not supposed to be our old selves with some improvement. We are called to a new life altogether.
Paul reminds us that we are to “take off [our] former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires.” This is not simply an adjustment to our way of life, it is a change of our entire life, beginning with our mindset. This is why he also notes that we are to “be renewed in the spirit of [our] minds and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” Again, we are not talking minor adjustments, we are talking about an entire change of our mind to God’s mindset.
Most New Year’s Resolutions will fail. In fact, the second Friday in January is called “Quitter’s Day.” This is because what most people are trying to do is to make adjustments to the old self instead of committing to the new life we have been offered. Which will you choose for this new year?
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