We view the last day of the year in a special way.
We think of it as an old man, weary and nearly crippled with age, ready to release his hold on life and give it to another.
It’s our way of looking forward to a new start, of turning loose of problems, of perhaps washing our hands of painful situations.
We don’t want to carry the old man into the new year, yet we sometimes have a hard time letting him go. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us the old man doesn’t have to stick around.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Our peace comes through God. We don’t have to keep a room set aside for last year’s problems. They don’t have to live here anymore. God gives us three steps to let the old man fade away.
Step No. 1:
Do not be anxious about anything.
Take a deep breath. Know that the problem isn’t forever. Let it go.
Step No. 2:
By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Our thanks given with our requests will change our viewpoint of our problems. We’ll soon see that as bad as we thought they were, they’ve become shadows that can do us no harm.
Step No. 3:
The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Our peace doesn’t always come through the removal of our problems but through our refusal to let them darken our thoughts and days. We must let the old man die as we step into the new year.
We’re free from the past when we give it to Jesus. Only he can vanquish it from our mind and gift us fresh and vibrant life once more.
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Code: FGO.I.06.17c.vp.esv