Part 1: Newness

Newness surrounds us.

The breath of life that God has given you circulates through your body’s 80,000 miles of blood vessels, creating an estimated 50 billion new cells every single day.

About 400,000 babies are born into the world every single day - that’s 12 babies in the last three seconds.

New is exciting and invigorating! But new isn’t always a good thing. Since newness is attractive, companies use it to manipulate the masses. Old products are released into the market under new names and they sell like hotcakes. Cell phone companies release new versions of their phones every year, causing people to ditch their perfectly fine phones and part with the fruit of their labor for a jolt of novelty’s thrill. Social media is social manipulation; it hooks people of all ages by making their dopamine levels surge every time they see or post something new.

Adam and Eve failed to resist the novelty of that one forbidden tree. They desired the new power, the new knowledge, and the new taste of the mysterious fruit; the world has never been the same. And the power of sin and death that they welcomed into the world continues to ravage all of creation to this day.

Part 2: Ancient Paths

Venturing into new territory solely for the sake of its novelty is not wise. The only sufficient guide in new lands is the remembrance of tried and true “ancient paths”; and the potential for great good in a new season is wholly dependent upon whether or not the timeless righteousness of God’s commands dictates our conduct.

"Stand by the ways and see, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls.” - Jeremiah 6:16

Let us not be like the “Athenians and the foreigners” who “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21) just for the sake of its newness.

Part 3: A New Thing

“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” - Isaiah 43:18-19

God makes a path in the overgrown weeds of wilderness; and God causes rivers of water to spring forth in the driest of deserts. To chase after every wilderness for the sake of blazing trails, and to run headlong into deserts in search of the rarest water, is not wise. But when God is going before us, when He is leading the way, let us go with gladness even into the far corners of the earth! Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain; but if the Lord is building something, let us not hesitate to be co-laborers with God! If the Lord is doing a new thing, let us not hesitate to yield ourselves to the Master’s will, laboring “while it is yet day.”

Part 4: A Fork in the Road

And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

Every once in a while in the journey of life we come to a fork in the road. Our decision to go right or to go left can often determine the course of the rest of our lives - at least to a very large extent. One decision that may seem inconsequential in the moment, can bring about the most severe of consequences for generations to come.

If you were soon confronted by a fork in the road, a path of truth on the right, and a path of lies on the left, which one would you choose? What if the decision would be evident to all? What if the decision required something of you? What if the decision could not be avoided? There are seasons where grey is not welcome, and all becomes black and white.

Truth is a very dangerous thing. When truth is exposed, every system that is built on a lie is struck at its foundation; and, if the circumstances are right, whole systems of government topple, reformations occur, and the world changes forever.

After the truth of King George’s intentions were unequivocally made known to the people of America, the colonies were confronted with a choice. They chose a path that brought forth a new country - a path that changed the course of history. Their choice of freedom over tyranny was most costly, but they deemed the alternative even more costly: slavery to Great Britain.

Part 5: This New Year

This year could possibly be an opportunity for us, individually and as a nation, to confront truth. Truth can be terribly uncomfortable, but it is the only way; it is the only path to freedom. Truth is the only sword that can break the chains of lies that bind the minds of humanity; and truth is the only sufficient bedrock of any free people.

There is much talk of wickedness in high places being exposed; and it ought to be. But in our righteous anger, let us not forget to look in the mirror and let the holy, precious truth of God’s Word reveal to us our sins. The only promising way forward for America is genuine repentance: exercising our free will to choose God and His ways over our sinful ways. We could never carry out such a decision on our own strength; but when the decision is sincerely made, as long as our hearts stay in a humble posture before God, the Spirit of the Lord will give us strength for the task. There can be a new day in America, but we must forsake our idols. There can be a new birth of freedom, but not without truth.