Happy New Year!

I was thinking...

What if there was no such thing as new year? What if months continue beyond 12 months (i.e. December) and never stop? That we number our age not by years but by months? Or for that matter, what if there was no months either, or no weeks and days??? What if we live our lives without any system of counting how much we have lived?

I'm sure we humankind would have come up with some kind of arbitrary system to count our lives, but I'm in awe to remember that the current system we have (days, weeks, months, and years) are actually how God designed it. As I was reading Genesis this morning, I can't stop but think that what God had in mind when he was creating sun, moon, and stars are not just to shine lights to his universe but also to create a system that gives a rhythm to the lives of his created beings. "God said, 'let there be lights... and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years...'" (gen. 1:14).

I used to think that a new year's day is just another day. It comes every 365 days or sometimes 366. We don't suddenly get one year older when the calender turns January 1, or we don't see anything drastically change in the world just because it's a new year. Everything is still the same, nothing has seemingly changed, and we simply start writing 2007 on our checkbook rather than 2006.

But this year, I'm being a little more reflective - maybe I'm getting older... I really think it was God's genius design to give us new years (and new months, new weeks, and new days). He knew we could handle only 12 months worth of mishaps. We need a fresh start, a new year with new resolutions, and new year with new goals and attitudes - in just about every 12 months. Likewise he knew we could only handle about 30 days in a month, 7 days in a week, and no more than 24 hours in a day. You see, God created us and he knew exactly what we could handle and what would be our optimal rhythm of life. To me, he is a genius!

So, I'm thankful this year that I get a new year called year 2007. It's not just another year, not just another day. It means a new start - not necessarily saying the old year was bad or meaningless - but that 2007 is a new year with renewed mindset, recharged energy, and refocused vision. It will be a new year because it will be unlike any other years. Yes, it will repeat many things from previous years but it never duplicate things completely.

As I reflect on 2006 I see how God worked in my lives and around me. It surely was a year of many provisions from God. God did many things in ways that I couldn't have guessed beginning of the year. And now I look forward to another year of surprises and gifts from God. Yes, probably some trials and tests as well. But, one thing I know is that this is how God designed it and that his grace and mercy will be new every morning, new every week, and new every month and year. Happy new year to everyone, and may the Lord bless you with a sense of new hope and new dreams!