Another New Year
I can’t believe we’re headed towards yet another new year. As I’ve been thinking about this upcoming year, I recalled a Bible Recap from the other day. The host for the podcast, Tara-Leigh Cobble, quoted DA Carson:
People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
I thought this quote was really incredible. I had to listen to it a couple of times, and then went and searched for it. It was so convicting. And youch, too true.
Life is tough
I think we can all agree, life is hard. It seems like right when we get a little reprieve, something else happens. But I think the hardest part is when we look around and it sure seems as if a few people around us have nothing but “reprieve.” Granted, we can’t see everything that is happening in each person’s life. But still. It can seem that here we are, working hard to obey the LORD and love Him more each day, and then someone comes along who could care less about the LORD and they’re doing great. Not a care in the world, they’re just on cruise control living their best life.
The Psalms
I think if you’ve walked with the LORD for any extended period of time, you know the answer to this. Psalms were written long ago about the wicked prospering. This is not a new phenomenon. Specifically Psalm 73 speaks to knowing what the end is of those who prosper in the now who don’t love the LORD. But in the middle of the “now” it can be hard to understand and live with our chins up, trusting the LORD in every circumstance. At least, I’ve found that to be true in my own life.
But Carson’s quote was like a smelling salt to me. Yes, life can be difficult. But we were never promised otherwise. John Bunyan had it so spot on in Pilgrim’s Progress. We could live life free from all self control and indulge our every whim just as the people of The City of Destruction did. They drifted every which way according to their appetites, completely oblivious to anything of value. Christian chose to leave that life for a life of difficulty because he knew there was something better. Something more.
That reminded me of what CS Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
The immediate versus the goal
It may seem in the immediate, there is a lot on our plates and it’s overwhelming. Too much, sometimes. But we must remember, God has good things planned for us. And His good things are so much better than we can ever imagine. Even in the midst of the difficulties, He is at work. He has purpose in all He does, despite what it may seem like.
Whenever I find myself annoyed and frustrated, I try to remind myself that as I take 2 steps forward, 3 steps backward, slide over a few steps, then claw out a couple steps forward again, I must continue to strive towards the goal of that upward call of God (Philippians 3:12-14). It may be meandering, but the general direction remains the same. He is worth it, even if it may not feel that way in the moment.
What’s easy or what’s right?
We all tend to drift towards what’s easiest. But as DA Carson intimates, doing what is easy is rarely, if ever, right. We must fight our way towards righteousness and holiness. Yet praise God, not by our own strength. But by the strength and grace of God.
I pray that as we enter 2026, we remember that life will inevitably bring its challenges. Especially if we are walking with the LORD. But if we’re not sweating it out and fighting, we’re probably sliding into very not good places.
LORD strengthen us and keep us from sliding. Give us discernment and wisdom as we start the new year. And when we find ourselves sliding, help us to get up, put back on the full armor of God, pick up the sword of the Spirit, and fight again towards holiness (Ephesians 6:10-18). Whether or not we feel like it. Whether or not we understand.
God is good! He is worth it.
Happy New Year! Praise the LORD for another year!
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