A New Year’s Resolution
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22
One of the gifts of God to us is structures by which to measure and regulate our lives. These are both patterned into the world’s design and given to us by God. One of those is the earth’s rotation around the sun, which gives us our year. Though we hardly realize it, the earth is speeding through the vacuum of space, traveling at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour. That is very fast! Over the course of a year, our planet will travel 584,020,178 miles from its beginning point and back again. Fortunately, we are 93,000,000 miles away from the sun, so its heat does not make the earth too hot. Interestingly, we are closer to the sun in the winter, about 91 million miles away, and farther in July, about 95 million miles away. We are hotter in the northern hemisphere in the summer because the tilt of the planet causes the sun’s rays to hit us more directly. This tilt creates the seasons of the year.
Both the seasons and the years are part of the design of the solar system. What do they mean? They are, at least in part, God’s gift to us to help us measure our time. Our lives can be counted in years and the years divided into seasons. The seasons give variety to our lives, and the years provide a number by which to measure our lives. We measure how old we are by our birthdays. We know where we are in each year by the passing of the seasons. These help us keep track of our lives. They enable us to think about them in manageable segments. This also reminds us that our lives have a beginning and an end.
The other element of the world that gives structure to life is day and night. There is day and night, every day. This also helps us. In each twenty-four hours there is daytime in which we accomplish our responsibilities. Then we rest to renew our energy for another day. Our bodies are perfectly programmed to function well in this way. At the end of a day, we are in need of rest. After a night’s rest we are ready for the new day. This is God’s gift of grace to us. In addition, the book of Genesis divides time further. Seven days make up a week. Each week provides time for work and rest. Six days we work, and then we have a day of rest. This cycle also helps us order and manage our lives.
At the start of a new year, it is appropriate to reflect on what is ahead of us. This year, what responsibilities do you have? It is good to ask God to help you fulfill them. Will you have opportunities? It is good to ask God to help you take advantage of them. We will all face challenges in the coming year, but we have the promise that God will be with us in them. We have another year to nurture our relationships, love those around us, and try to make a difference in the world.
Let us then commit the year to God. Let us ask for his grace, humble ourselves before him, and pray for his help. Let us work hard to be the best we can be and ask God to use us in his plans. The best way to do this is to commit each day to God and try to live it, in his presence, in the fullest way we can.