What makes a New Year such a big deal?

The way we value our days can vary as broadly as there are people! The way one person values a day can be wildly different than how someone else values the same day.

Here’s a great example, shared by Rick Johnson in, “Better Dads, Stronger Sons”:

Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams and grandson of President John Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: “Went fishing with my son today — a day wasted.”

His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father — the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.

The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one’s ultimate purpose in life and to judge accordingly.

One day that is very important to some, yet considered just another day by others, is New Year’s Day — that first day of a sparkling new year.

As for me, I kind of think New Year’s is a big deal.

Why?

Just because you see the start of a new year isn’t a promise you’ll see the end of it. I understand that. But should God grant you another year, then New Year’s isn’t just another day.

A New Year is a gift from God of time, which is a gift of life. Once your time is up, your life here expires. So spend your time well and wisely.

Spending our time wisely is also an exhortation from the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is,” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:15-17‬ ‭(NASB).

The emphasis on spending the gift of time (which is a gift of life) wisely is due in part because time contains opportunities. That idea is captured in how the New Living Translation interprets the same passage of scripture from Paul:

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do,” Ephesians‬ ‭5:15-17.

We need to apply wisdom to how we use our time by making the most of our opportunities, something best done by understanding what it is the Lord wants us to do.

What could that possibly be?

Well, Jesus said this:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need,” Matthew‬ ‭6:33‬.

So a New Year is a big deal because it’s a gift of time, which is a gift of life, which contains opportunities about which we should make wise decisions with understanding what it is the Lord wants us to do with that gift of time and life and opportunities.

Maybe a New Year is sort of a big deal … but that’s just how I see it. How do you see it?

Scotty