8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new  heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (II Peter 3:8-13 KJV)

 

As we enter this new year and have made your resolutions, remember to repent. Because only repentance is acceptable and will set you free to live with the Lord. We have lived but a fraction of a time, according to the Lord’s counting. So, what have you done with this fraction of time except things that are forbidden?

We, as a human and filled with faults, are very predictable. We always start the year off on the right foot and have really good intentions. However, as the year goes on and on, as the months advance, we seem to forget those good intentions and/or resolutions and slip back into our old ways. It is the human in us all. We can not help but do this year after year. But, the Lord is coming like a thief in the night and we can’t prevent it.

Let’s ask ourselves this question. Will we be right when the Lord come? Will we have repented when he arrive for all who have repented? Do we know when the day shall arrive? If we can answer in the positive to all the questions, we have nothing to worry about. Whatever the answer, remember one thing, we can’t talk ourselves out of eternal damnation if we are not righteous. Remember Matthew 25 (KJV), about the ten bridesmaids and when the bridegroom came, we’ll never know when.

I understand, one night to celebrate the New Year leads into one more day and then another and it never ends. Just an occasional slip here and there but it never ends. Then, one day, in between our minor slips come the Day of Judgment, like a thief in the night, what are we all going to do. We all falter. I say again, we all falter. There is no one, that I know of, that does not falter. It is engrained in us to falter, however, we all can repent, ask forgiveness for our sins, big and small.

Let’s look at this another way. Let’s look at New Years according to cultures. The Chinese have a different New Year as well as the Jewish faith. We go by the Caesarian (Roman) calendar but there are more calendars. Then look at the way some peoples calculate days. The American Indian went by the moon yet others went by the sun and who know how many other ways it is calculated. Therefore there is a question about when New Year should be observed. Then, as Second Peter is looked at, when is there a full day or year? Whenever it is it does not excuse bad behavior, sinning and a non-commitment to repent, for whatever the reason.

So, for the new year, repent and give up your evil ways because we’ll never know when the coming of the Lord is near. Can we all live this year and the next and on and on trying not to sin? As the song of old say “you can make it if you try”. Then there is another old saying, “nothing beats a failure but a person that does not try”. So let us all try and try hard this New Year. Happy New Year