When my daughters were little girls, they loved going out into the backyard in the spring be-cause everything was new. The smell of new grass, flowers and budding plants was so good. Oh, how they loved the new little baby birds, robins and sparrows chirping with their brand new squeaky sounds. And you can’t forget the baby squirrels and rabbits! They were cute, but not as cute as my two little ones running around the yard chasing and thoroughly absorbing with joy the festival of life that invaded my backyard.
In the sports world, we can be fascinated with “new”—new recruits, new plays, a brand new season. Even directly in the midst of a tough game, halftime rolls around and the second half always provides a golden opportunity to get a new perspective. As many people say, “It’s a brand new ballgame!”
But you know what? For the second half of the game to be brand new, you must first die to the first half. In other words, sure, you can learn from the first half, but to really live in the se-cond half you must flush away the first half—the good, the bad and the ugly.
It’s not always easy to do that during a game. It’s even more difficult in life.
What’s new when you are exhausted physically and emotionally and can’t seem to stay awake? What’s new when you are in a tough relationship with a friend, spouse or parent where there are constant quarrels and anger? What’s new when you’ve been a Christian for 30 years and still have sins and bad habits continually haunting you? What’s new when you blow an assignment that costs your team a win and you’re now receiving tons of blame? What’s new when it seems that praying to the Lord doesn’t even make a difference in the situations that are making life miserable?
That’s where Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)comes in: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”
We sing the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness! Great is Thy Faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see...”
Because of our sin, our loving, just and holy God had to pour out His wrath in judgment. He chose to pour that wrath out on His innocent Son instead of those who deserved it: you and me. God extended His mercy to us. That blows my mind to know that God showed me my sin-ful nature and His incredible mercy, and my response was repentance through faith in His Son as my salvation for eternal life. Jesus died and rose again, and I received His new life that changed me and my destiny forever.
And to think, this wasn’t enough of an inheritance. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that God’s mercies are fresh every day! Every second!
When Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, he was in the middle of, well, lamenting. Judah’s sin had caused mass destruction of God’s people, and Jeremiah was in the midst of detailing the misery before God on behalf of His people with a loud lament.Yet, in the middle of that painful and seemingly hopeless drought of God’s voice and presence came Lamentations 3:22-23, an oasis of fresh new water in Jeremiah’s spirit that he penned under the inspiration of God, woven into Scripture for you and I today to be reminded of God’s continual mercy.
Later, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV), “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”
The new nature in Christ isn’t a carbon copy of Jesus. It’s not “What would Jesus do?” Jesus is not a historical figure. He rose from the dead and sits at the Father’s right hand. He is alive. Instead of “What would Jesus do?” it’s “What is Jesus doing?” Our new nature is conforming to His image continually. Yes, this new nature now gives us a fresh view of those tough games, relationships and circumstances.
Even in my sin, since I’ve been born again in Christ, I can find God’s forgiveness, grace and a brand new slate as I stay in intimate fellowship with Him through confession and interces-sion. Because of God’s continual new mercies to you and me, we who are in Christ can never be counted out. We can experience the relentless newness of Jesus in every situation, no matter how tough it is, because of His new mercies to you and me. Today, and every day this new year, we can rock the world relentlessly with Jesus!
Originally Published: January 2013