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Welcoming the new year

“I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.” — Philippians 3:13-14

How do we welcome the New Year? Do we welcome it with firecrackers and pyrotechnics? Do we welcome it with sumptuous food, merrymakings and parties? Or, do we welcome it with twelve kinds of rounded fruits? There are different traditions and ways of welcoming the New Year.  But I would suggest that as we anticipate the coming of the New Year, we should have at least a time for some serious reflections.

Remembering the Past

There are at least three things that we should do: First is to remember the past.  As we look back to the past year, we will realize that the past is real.  There are times though that as much as possible we do not want to remember the past, especially if the past is dark and gloomy, something that brought us painful experiences and great miseries in life. Thus, we would like to forget the past, to dismiss it as an illusion, a nightmare that should lose itself in oblivion.

However, we can not deny the fact that there are also times when we have to take the past seriously, to study and learn from it, and hope to find some illumination for our present existence.  For instance, those who are studying our current social problems have to look back and dig deeper into our historical past in order to find some answers.

Moreover, the past is not only real; it is also unchangeable.  It is irrevocable.  Hence, a popular quotation is right when it says, “I pass this way but once.  Therefore, anything I can do or any kindness I can show I will do it now.  For I shall not pass this way again.”

Self-examination

The second thing to do is to examine our selves. A closer self-examination would unveil to us the joy of Christian life. For the life of a Christian must be a joyful response in thanksgiving to what God has done in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To be joyful is to have inner peace that passes all human understanding, providing us courage and determination to exercise our faith even in the face of trials, problems and difficulties in life.  This is the kind of joy that made Apostle Paul to stand the rigors of persecutions, so that even behind bars he still wrote to the Christians in Philippi, saying: “May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord.  I say it again: rejoice ‘I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me” (Phil.4:4,13).

A serious self-examination would also reveal to us our imperfections and shortcomings, and paralyzing aimlessness.  We would be able to see our unfulfilled dreams, unattained goals and ambitions in life, perhaps because either we have not really exerted enough efforts or they are too high for us.  But we do not stop there.

Future Goal

The third thing to do is to have a future goal.  Apostle Paul says, “I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.  So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above” (Phil.3:13).  A life that is meaningful is a life with a definite purpose.

The purpose of Christian life is to participate in God’s work of salvation in establishing His Kingdom on earth.  God’s Kingdom is present where His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.  And we know that God’s will is done where there is daily bread, where there is forgiveness of sins, where temptation is overcome, and where there is deliverance from evil.  It is our Christian task, indeed, to participate in God’s saving act in the world. But we are not alone in this task.  The Writer of the Book of Hebrews kept his “eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end” (Heb.12:2).

Responding to God’s call to participate in His work of salvation in the world is like leaping into the great unknown.  But the promise is so great that “not even death will ever be able to overcome it” (Mt.16:18).  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has promised, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt.28:20).

Happy New Year to everyone! #

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