Speaking of a new year, stop for a second and think about all the things you can associate between God and the word “new.” Seriously, make a quick list before reading further, either in your mind, on a sheet of paper, or in an e-doc. I’ll wait.
It’s one of those lists that once you think of your first entry, several more freely flow. New heart. New thing. New covenant. New creation. New life. New song. And if you were to take this little exercise one step further by searching “new” in Scripture, you get a sense that you are looking into the very nature of God. He does new.
But one of the most striking, and surprising, observations is how often you see God’s people committed to, almost in response, sing a new song. In Isaiah and the Psalms, writers are expressing their commitment to sing a new song to God or instructing their readers to sing a new song to God. The book of Revelation describes two scenes of God’s people singing new songs to God. You get the sense that these instructions and exhortations are God’s hinting nudge to keep ourselves in a state of readiness for the new that God wants to do in our lives and in the world around us.
So, this brings up three questions that might keep our hearts turned toward the “new” that God wants to do around us.
What have I held onto more tightly than God intended?
These tight “holds” can even be good things, things God has used in the past to minister to me and others, but things that He is no longer using. Being a nostalgic person, I know I tend to hold onto things longer than their useful spiritual purpose. Jesus even said that religious traditions can nullify God’s Word. By keeping a tight hold on the hold I can miss the new God wants to do.
What trait from my old “creatureness” have I made friends with?
Bitterness? Selfishness? Anger? I have the ability to miss living in the full newness that God wants to do in my life. At times I let my default settings from my old nature creep back into control. It’s so easy to react out of frustration or make decisions out of selfishness. Old nature reactions are more expedient. Our Enemy makes sure of that.
What can I do to sing a new song?
It seems that a resolve to sing a new song is the antidote for the two previous questions. By regularly singing a new song I am reminding myself that: 1) God has made me a new creature; no need to connect to my old creature; 2) God is doing new things around me; 3) God’s nature is new.
Speaking of taking this little exercise one step further by searching “new” in Scripture, we have compiled a few of these verses for you in a video devo you can view here. Enjoy a quick stroll through Scripture, seeing things God likes to make new. Near the end of the video you may want to join with the psalmist in singing a new song back to God. It will help put the “new” in your New Year.