New Year: Make This the Best Year of Your Life Matthew 11:28-30
New Year: Make This the Best Year of Your Life
Matthew 11:28-30
Pastor Barry Kerner
- S. Lewis once wrote, “What a sorry world it would be if it were always winter but never Christmas!” The chill of December has certainly been alleviated by the warmth of the holidays. As we begin 2021 we need remember what a sad life it would be if it were always the old year and never the new! Time, of course, does not know the divisions we give it. It is man who rings bells, blows horns, and throws confetti to usher in the new year. We do this because we, of all God’s creatures alone, have an awareness of time. And, we long for times of new beginnings.
Louise Fletcher Tarkington expressed the longings of many when she wrote: “I wish there were some wonderful place called the land of Beginning Again, where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches, And all our selfish griefs could be cast like a shabby old coat at the door And never be put on again.”
The new year is fresh upon us. Relentlessly, the pages of the calendar have fallen away so that the future is suddenly now. No thoughtful person can approach such a time without some introspection. We are bound to ask, “What will it mean to me?” “What can I do with it?” These are thoughts which come naturally with each year end and each new beginning. While we cannot know what the future holds, we do know this, it will largely be what you and I and God make of it. It is appropriate, therefore, that in these first days of the new year that we plan for the three hundred and sixty-odd successive days that will follow in this new year – 2021.
A long time ago Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed what ought to be the desire of every one of us, “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” Despite the failures and mistakes of the past we can make it so. What can we do to make every day the best day for us? Here are some suggestions. If you follow them they can not only help make every day the best day of the year, they can also help make this new year the best year of your life.
First, we should live life one day at a time. Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal. Stan Ghetz, the outstanding jazz saxophonist, had a life-threatening bout with cancer. In a radio interview several years later he was asked, “What did you learn from this illness?” He replied, “I learned that life is not a dress rehearsal.” Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor/philosopher wrote, “To live each day as though it was one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing — here is the perfection of character.”
There is no second chance at life. The only moment any of us ever has is the present moment. Time can’t be saved, only savored. In Psalm 118:24, the psalmist must have had this in mind when he resolved, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Some people live their lives in the past, weighted down by the mistakes and failures of their yesterdays. Others live on an expectancy basis, always looking for something in the future. A boy in high school anticipates college; in college, he anticipates the joy that will be his when he gets an engineering job; when he gets an engineering job, he believes the joy will come when he marries Mary and has a home; and so he goes on . . . anticipating.
Living one day at a time means keeping yourself responsive to simple things. For most of life, few wonderful things happen. For most of us, there are not big moments — only a pile of small ones. Most of us miss life’s big prizes: The Pulitzer. The Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys. But we’re all eligible for life’s small pleasures. A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear. A four pound bass. A full moon. An empty parking space. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset.
Art Rooney reminded us that if we don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing our work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then chances are we’re not going to be very happy. If our happiness or unhappiness is based on some major event like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawless happy marriage or a trip to Paris, we will not be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a brisk walk or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness. So we must not fret about gaining life’s grand awards. We have to enjoy it’s tiny delights. They are always near at hand and there are plenty for all of us. The motto of our life, therefore, ought to be: “Learn from yesterday, and hope for tomorrow, but live today.” If you will do that, this will likely be the best year of your life.
Second, we should live our life with a view to the end. You need to train for the final event
Ted Koppel interviewed Mikel Gorbechev the day before he stepped down as president of the Soviet Union. He asked President Gorbechev if there were some story, some Russian fable, that summed up his feelings. Gorbechev said that there was, and then told the story of a young prince who came to power in Russia. He wanted to rule the country well and so he asked the wise men of his country to share their wisdom with him so he could rule his people wisely. Ten years later they sent to him ten wagons loaded with books. He asked, “When can I read all of these? I must govern the people.” He asked if they could condense the wisdom contained in the wagon loads of books for him. Ten more years passed and they sent him ten volumes. This was still too much for him to read, and he asked that the wisdom in those ten books be reduced even more. Five more years passed and they brought him one volume. But, by this time, he was an old man and on his deathbed. He asked the wise men if they could sum up their message in one sentence. They replied, “People are born. People suffer. People die.” That is not the sum of all wisdom but life’s ultimate statistic is the same for all of us, one out of one dies. And if we are wise we will live it with that end in view. We would all do well to pause and think how we would like to be remembered when that time comes. We should then begin by doing those things for which we would like to be remembered such as loving, serving, giving, and so on.
Robert T. Morris said, “I hate funerals and would not attend my own if it could be avoided, but it is well for every man to stop once in a while to think of what sort of a collection of mourners he is training for his final event.” To do that will help you make this the best year of your life.
Third, we should give ourselves to others. You need to let happiness sneak up on you. Jesus, toward the end of his ministry, met with his disciples in the upper room. He wrapped a towel around his waist, took a basin of water, and moved among the disciples washing their feet. In so doing, he was assuming the role of a common servant. When he had finished, he sat down and asked the disciples if they understood what he had done. He, the Lord of glory, had become a servant. John 13:17 tells us that he then said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done for you.” This is the only place in scripture where Jesus ever said he had given us an example. Then he concluded by saying, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13:17).
Jesus knew that happiness is like a butterfly — the more you chase it, the more it flies away from you and hides. But, if you stoop and serve patiently, it will light on you. The happiest people I know are the ones who work at being kind, thoughtful, helpful, and generous. And when they do, happiness sneaks into their lives.
Albert Schweitzer spoke to a graduating class in an English boy’s school back in 1935. He said, “I do not know what your destiny will be. Some of you will perhaps occupy remarkable positions. Perhaps some of you will become famous by your pens, or as artists. But I know one thing: the only ones who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
Helen Keller said, “I find life an exciting business — and most exciting when it is lived for others.” And actor Danny Glover said, “We make a living by what we do. We make a life by what we give.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it beautifully when she wrote: “A child’s kiss set on by sighing lips shall make thee Glad; A poor man served by thee shall make thee Rich; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee Strong; Thou shall be served thyself by every sense Of service which thou renderest.” We are best to ourselves when we are good to others. It’s one of the things we can do to make this the best year of our life.
Fourth, we should learn to forgive and forget. Don’t hug a grudge. A person is what he remembers, but he is also what he forgets. One of the healthiest things a human being can do is become a master of forgetting. It’s good to have a good memory, but it’s also good to be good at forgetting. In Philippians 3:13-14, the apostle Paul gave us a part of the secret of his great life when he said, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We can’t be sure of all the things Paul had in mind when he spoke of “forgetting those things which are behind,” but I’m sure he must have included his failures and disappointments, the hurts he had suffered, as well as his successes and achievements.
To live a victorious life you can’t rest on yesterday’s laurels and you can’t harbor yesterday’s hurts. As someone has said, “The rewards in life go to those who are willing to give up the past.” Someone once said, “There ain’t no burden so heavy as carrying a grudge.” Bernard Baruch, advisor to six presidents, said, “One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything before you go to bed at night.”
In the movie, The Revengers, a rancher is searching for a gang that killed his family and destroyed his home. In a moving scene a woman who had befriended him said, “You must be careful what you put in your heart. If you fill it with hate, there will be no room for love and laughter and tears. And your heart will rot.”
Anger and bitterness are poisons just like strychnine. They can build up slowly in you until they kill you. So, whatever you do, don’t hug a grudge. Don’t lug into the new year your resentments, your hates, your frustrations, your disappointments, your regrets. There is too much impediment in that. They will wear you down. The thing to do today is to drop the past—forget it—skip it—throw it into the past—and look to the future. There is an old Chinese proverb that says: There can be no joy like peace There can be no gift like health There can be no faith like trust There can be no sickness like hate. If you want to make this year the best year of your life, forgive and forget. It’s the only way to live happily.
Fifth, we should face adversity with courage. Remember, life sees you coming. Most of us get at least one knock down punch in life—a death, a divorce, a disease, a wayward child, an alcoholic relative. As novelist Alan Patton, in a poem to his son, wrote, “Life sees you coming. She lies in wait for you; she cannot but hurt you.” Adversity is never pleasant, but it can be good for us. If responded to correctly it can bring out the finest qualities in our life. Christian graces are like perfumes, the more they are pressed, the sweeter they smell; like stars that shine brightest in the dark; like trees, which, the more they are shaken, the deeper root they take, and the more fruit they bear.
That’s a part of why Paul, in Romans 5:3, said “we glory in tribulation.” Like Job, I don’t understand all of God’s ways, but even the Lord learned obedience through the things he suffered. I would not, therefore, ask to go through a world without adversity, for it is sorrow and suffering which increases our sensitivity toward God and others. And, if we could somehow keep pain from our children’s door, it would be life itself that we would be keeping out. Adversity is a part of life. There is no way to escape it, no way around it. You must go through it. But, by God’s grace we can do that and not be defeated by it. And that’s what we must do to make this the best year of our life.
Sixth, we should keep a sense of humor. Happiness is a choice. When Georges Pompidou became president of France in 1969 he created a new cabinet post. He called it “Secretary of State Charged with Public Opinion.” It was the responsibility of this person to keep his ear to the ground and report to the president any cause of discontent. The man who was appointed described his responsibility, “I am,” he said, “the minister of moans and groans.” We don’t have to go through life moaning and groaning. We can look on the bright side of life. We can be positive and optimistic. We can acknowledge the clouds of life and also see the silver linings. When my wife and I were planning to move from Pittsburgh to Homer, New York to be a Pastor in a local church, friends asked, “How are you going to like Homer?” I replied, “We will do just fine. We are happy people. We can be happy wherever we are.” Happiness is always a choice.
Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” We especially need to learn to laugh at ourselves. Once when Lincoln was engaged in a debate with Frederick Douglas, Douglas accused him of being two-faced. Lincoln, who was far from handsome made a classic reply, “I will let the audience decide for itself. If I had another face, do you think I would be wearing this one?”
Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” So cultivate a happy, cheerful disposition. It is essential to making this the best year of your life.
Seventh, we should put our life in the hand of God. We cannot know what the future holds. We cannot see five years or five weeks or five minutes into the future. Therefore, we make a mistake if we presume on tomorrow. James 4:13-15 tells us, 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Our life is like a vapor and no man knows what one day may bring forth. So, we ought to live it in conscious dependence upon God and surrender to His will.
I’ll close with these thoughts. In his 1939 Christmas message to the nation, King George VI of England expressed the faith we all need when he quoted the words of Lewis Haskins: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, “Give me a light, that I might tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied, “Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” In what may be the greatest invitation of the Bible, the Lord invites us to do just that, to put our hand in his. In Matthew 11:28-30 He said, 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Life was never intended to be borne in a single yoke. The Lord invites us to yield our lives to him and let him share and bear life’s load with us. The poet John Richard Moreland put it best: The hands of Christ Seemed very frail. For they were broken by a nail. But only they reach heaven at last whom those frail, broken hands hold fast. Take your hand of faith and put it in his hand of grace and it will be the best year of your life. And as you do, remember this: You can spend your life Any way you like. But you can only spend it once!