The Problem with New

One popular concept that is extremely popular with January 1 st of any year is resolutions. We say that we are going to do things like go to the gym more often, eat healthier, read more books, or do who knows what else. Whatever we “resolve” to do though is always something new meaning we aren’t currently doing it right now. Now you know the problem with resolutions is that most are never kept! A survey conducted by Forbes in 2024 found that the average resolution only lasted 3.74 months. Why? Now please understand that this is not something that very few people know about. Most, if not all of us know the struggle that comes with keeping a New Year’s resolution but may not understand the depth of the reason it’s such a struggle. The reason is simple; there is a problem with the “new.”

Let me explain. There simply is not anything new under the Sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 states,

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

Did you catch what Soloman said there? There is nothing new under the Sun. Yes, while we may look at something new that we may want to do and think that it will be the greatest thing ever, we are faced with a problem that is two-fold. First, is our lack of follow through. Yes, we may start with good intentions, but without the corresponding actions to back that up we will never reach our goals. The following proverb sums this thought up well by saying that the “road to hell is paved with good intentions.” While that sounds dramatic it is true because we can intend all we want to make it to church, to read the Bible, to really deal with the guilt we feel each Sunday when the gospel is presented saying, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” The problem is we never do.

The second problem is that there is a problem with the “new.” I’m referring to what Solomon just said in Ecclesiastes 1:9. You see, what happens often is that we seek something “new” that is somehow going to make us better. Sure, if we read more books, we will surely pick up more knowledge and if we go to the gym more often, and eat healthier, undoubtably we will get healthier. But then why do we not keep up with those things if the outcomes are so positive? The answer is that the “new” we want soon becomes the “new” that we really didn’t want in the first place. Somehow it has lost its allure, and we are stuck in the same complacency we were in just 3.74 months earlier if the survey from Forbes is right.

So, what’s the solution? The answer is that on our own we are helpless to overcome this sense of complacency, this desire for something new and improved. However, when you go to Revelation chapter 21 verse 5 you read these words written by the Apostle John as Jesus showed him the future,

“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Also, he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I like to ask this question often, so I am going to ask it again, did you catch that? Who is going to make all things “new.” Who is going disrupt the cycle that Solomon describes in Ecclesiastes 1:9? Who has both the authority and power to do this? The One seated on the throne, that’s who. You see, the problem inherent in all of us is that we think we are ok until something happens that shows us, we aren’t. Let me give you an illustration. Just this past December I came down with the lovely Flu. Now I’ve had the flu before, and not all experiences have been the same. This one surely was one for the books. I would lay in bed at night wide awake in a brain fog, congested, and running a fever and think to myself, “there is surely something wrong with me” and there was something wrong. I was sick. How could I tell? I could tell because of the symptoms that I was having told me that something was wrong with me! Well, we are all sick, and we are sick with something called sin and if we look at ourselves and around us we can see the symptoms that tell us that. Sin is something that we all have thanks to our rebellious sin nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve back in the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in God, they simply chose to believe that they were good enough to lead their own lives instead of God. To put it another way they fell for the Devil’s bait, “hook line and sinker,” and the sad reality is that we all do this every day. We are led to believe that we are good enough on our own, yet if you continue in Ecclesiastes to chapter 2 verse 11 you read these words,

“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the
sun.”

Nothing was gained. The things that we do this side of heaven that are devoid of God Solomon describes them as “chasing after the wind” and “meaningless.” Yet, we still look for something new, but according to Solomon there is nothing “new” under the Sun, it’s all been done before.

So, we cannot bring about the new on our own, can we? Sadly, we cannot and I think our failure at New Year’s resolutions points that out. We need help and that help only comes from God. God promises that one day He will make all things new and to highlight the truth that He is going to do this, He commands John to write these words down “because they are faithful and true.” So, God is telling us that it’s going to happen one day in the future, but you can take part in a change today that will bring about something “new” in your life. This change occurs when you decide to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Not only will Jesus and the Holy Spirit come to live in your Heart, but your life will also change dramatically for two reasons: first you will be saved and have Heaven to look forward to for all eternity. Second, you will be changed from the inside out as God, through Jesus begins to make all things “new” in you from the inside out. So, as you consider what resolutions to make this year won’t you consider Jesus? If you are looking for a new you, He is the only one that can truly make that happen!