Yesterday

Calendar dates mean a whole bunch of crazy LOT to us, don’t they?

A “year” since I’ve been cancer-free.
A “year” since I moved here.
A “year” since my dad died.
A “year” since I lost my job.
A “year” since I miscarried.
A “year” since my son died.
A “year” since I graduated from college.
A “year” since I bought my first house.

Dates are important landmarks. They just are. Nothing wrong with that at all.

But really…a “date” means very little…especially where resolutions are concerned.

On December 31…or January 1…a super-large percentage of us decide it’s time for something new. We make New Year’s Resolutions!!!

New year. New goals. New habits. New values. New activities. New stuff. New whatev

Nothing particularly wrong with that…at all.

But specific dates don’t mean anything, really.

Yes, January 1st is a brand new beginning, because it’s a brand new “year.”

But “years” don’t really mean anything to God. (Remember, we look at our “watch” or our “calendar,” but God looks at eternity.)

Dates don’t mean much to God, but “events” mean a whole buncha lot to God.

Today…is the day…after Easter…after resurrection Sunday.

But that was yesterday…..

Yesterday…Easter Sunday…Jesus rose from the dead.

Yesterday…we found the tomb completely and utterly empty.

Yesterday…a completely brand new hope planted itself in the deepest core of our being.

BUT TODAY….we face this brand new future with a brand new vision…a brand new mission…a brand new reason.

All that to say…New Year’s resolutions really don’t cut it for me. I start off strong…and then by January 12, I’m already off track. It rarely, if ever, works…and it rarely stays strong in the long run.

But this year…this year…I have decided I’m making Resurrection Resolutions.

Brand new life…leads to a brand new me.

I don’t want this to come across as being nauseatingly hokey…or trivial…or whatever. But stay with me here.

“Easter” Sunday..the day that our Savior rose from death…He conquered the grave…He arrested death…the day Jesus came back to life is a day of brand new beginning. The brand new beginning of our individual lives.

And it didn’t happen on the beginning of a specific calendar year, necessarily. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with setting new goals on January 1 in any given year.

But hey…this!!! Jesus rose from death…Jesus gave a brand new mission…Jesus told us that death is not the end!!!!

THIS IS WHEN MAKING NEW LIFE-CHANGING, LIFE-ALTERING RESOLUTIONS REALLY MAKES THE MOST SENSE!

New days…new experiences…new “ahaa” moments…new motivations…brand, spanking new days…THESE ARE MOMENTS OF RESOLUTIONS!

Yesterday, based on Jesus’ coming back to life…was a brand new day…this was a completely, brand-spanking-new BEGINNING.

Anything we have ever, ever done in our limited life…or will EVER do…good, bad or ugly…is completely erased!!!!

It’s all gone, y’all.

All. Completely. Gone.

Oh….dear, sweet friends. I’m challenging you right this very moment.

Everything bad…everything questionable…everything slightly immoral…everything you thought you’d gotten away with…every lie you’ve ever told…every secret you’ve held onto…every truth you have hidden…everything you thought was unavoidable…everything lacking in the same mercy and grace that our Savior-Jesus showed to the lowest of the super lowest of the lowest persons………

ALL of those things are COMPLETELY GONE!!!
ALL of those things are COMPLETELY GONE!!!
ALL of those things are COMPLETELY GONE!!!

I’m going to say it again, friends.

THEY.    ARE.    GONE!

And since all of those things are GONE…disappeared…vanished…let’s let go of that old life. And let’s strongly grab hold of this completely and brand new and forgiven-and-forgotten old, stinky, rotten life…

…and start brand, spanking new.

After all…..that’s EXACTLY why Jesus came and lived and learned and ministered and and sacrificed and died in the first place!!!

OH, MY…………all I can say is, “THANK YOU, JESUS! THANK YOU!!!!”