"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
— Corinthians 5:17
Growing up, I remember being one of the first generations to really embrace video gaming. The games were simple, yet challenging.
We saw, first hand, the great strides that were being made with technology and the advancement of the scientific mind as it pertained to computers and their various capabilities. On almost all gaming consoles, there was a reset button to restart the game when you felt like you had messed up so bad that you couldn’t go any further.
At least, that’s what I used it for.
Generally you would lose any unsaved progress you had made and start all over again. Sometimes God has to deal with us in this way. We get so lost and messed up that we need to just stop and reset to get back on the right track.
We can start out with, what we think, is the perfect plan. Then we find ourselves lost and confused, looking for an answer for all our problems. Just like the designers of the gaming systems, with all the technology time and effort that was put into making the game a challenge, it would seem to be cruel not have a way to just start over.
God has a plan for all of our lives. Sometimes our plans conflict with his will and we find ourselves messing up and making major mistakes, trying to do things on our own. In fact, Jeremiah 29:11 says it like this, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
I’m thankful knowing that no matter how much I mess things up or get off track, God still has his plan in motion and all I have to do is hit reset!
On our personal computers, there are buttons to reset the memory or even forcibly reboot the whole machine.
It is difficult for us to stop what we’re doing and start all over again. And to be honest, a lot of kiddie fights broke out because someone hit the reset button in the middle of the game, ruining it for everyone else that was playing.
We are creatures of habit. One writer said, "Nobody likes change, but a baby." But we must make the effort to do something different for our present and our future.
Our challenge is to be the best we can be in all things we set out to do. God told Isaiah, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" Isaiah 43:18-19.
It may be hard, but there comes a time in your life that you’ve got to clear your memory and force yourself to change.
This new year will be filled with resolutions and promises, but will you actually stop and do things another way or just keep going through the motions? A wise and youthful saying says, "Don’t talk about it, be about it!" Let 2017 be your year of fresh starts and new beginnings as you reset your life for the next big move God has planned for you. Reset for a new year!
Hayes is the pastor of New Day Community Church and president of the United Ministerial Alliance.