New

January 1, 2009. It is a new year. A new day filled with the promise of new opportunities. New chances to right wrongs. New opportunities to forgive old debts. New goals to set. New relationships to begin. New.

Oh, but new feels so foreign. It looks good, and we like to take off its wrappings, but in such a short time, we are tired of new, and look fondly behind us, to old. And old looks good again. So we reach for it. And it feels good, and familiar. So we set aside new. And we welcome old back into our lives.

Such is the habit of old that the writings of Paul and the Words of God tell us to be done with . . . "but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

All that to say, new is calling.