Today finishes 2022, and we stand on the verge of 2023. Some parts of the world have already brought in the New Year. So, what do we do now? Do we look back and evaluate our accomplishments in the past year? Did we reach our goals? Did we even have any goals? Or do we have regrets? To look back might enlighten us concerning what we could have done better or how we could have lived better. But that could also lead to a bad case of the “woulda, coulda, shouldas.” I’m sure we all have pleasant memories and enjoyable experiences we wish we could relive. For us all, too, there are likely other experiences and memories we wish to forget.
Two truths are certain about the past: 1) We cannot change anything in the past. 2) We must learn from the past – both the pleasant and the unpleasant. May it not be said of us, as the old adage goes, “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.”
Therefore, I ask, “Out with the old and in with the …” what? Our immediate answer might be, “the new.” But the ancient Preacher tells us, “There’s nothing new under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9. The same old things that have happened will happen again. He also tells us, “There is a time for everything…,” Eccles. 3:1. So, what will be the time for us in 2023? Will it be a time to be born or a time to die? A time to tear down or a time to build? A time to weep or a time to laugh? In one way or another, I’m sure the answer will be “YES!”
The Preacher also knew that “there’s nothing better for people than to be happy…” (3:12). So, many of us will pursue those things that fuel what we think will make and keep us happy. And we will lament those things that make us unhappy. But I quoted only part of what the Preacher said. He actually said, “I know there’s nothing better for people than to be happy AND TO DO GOOD while they live.” I think the Preacher understood rightly that doing good for others is the fruit of our happiness and not the root. So, where does true happiness come from? True happiness is not enhanced by focusing on ourselves. We’re already too self-focused as it is. But where should our focus rightly be? On other people? Some people do seem to live their lives solely for others. But is that gaze high enough? Far from making us happy, people tend to disappoint us and add to our unhappiness. Even if we lift our gaze from ourselves to others, our gaze will still only be on the horizontal level with ourselves. Yes, it is better than a fixed internal gaze on ourselves, but it is still not noble enough, because there is a higher good that requires a higher gaze upward.
The ancient Preacher rightly concluded that only the person who has God has his supreme focus will be truly happy (Eccles. 2:24-26; 3:14; 12:13). Therefore, I propose for the New Year a simple proposition: “More of God, less of us.” This, of course, is not to neglect others and their needs, but it is to find inspiration to look away from ourselves to others, while gazing fully upon God, our highest good. Theologians long ago have understood that God and God alone is our highest good, because he IS good and DOES good (Psalm 119:68), and he works everything for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). David said it best when he wrote, “I said to Yahweh, ‘You are my Lord [Master]; I have no good apart from you.'” Only as we know intimately this good God through Jesus Christ will we be truly happy and do good for others.
Leave a Reply