Yearly Cycle: A New Year a New Name

Recently I learned that the 12 Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and run through January 5/6th. The last day being symbolic of the day when the wise men brought Jesus gifts. That last day is called the day of Epiphany. 

Inside of this 12 day period is another important day, the 8th day after Jesus was born. In the Jewish culture it was tradition for baby boys to be circumcised and given their name on the 8th day after being born. 

In Luke 2:21 it says: "And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

Circumcision was a reminder of God's covenant with Abraham. Eight days after Christmas therefore is a reminder of our new covenant with God that he is doing continually good for us

It just so happens that New Year's Day, is the 8th day after Christmas. 

Today is a day to remember our covenant with God and to give a name to this year of 2021. 

My favorite way to remember our covenant with God, is to take my Miracle Year Plan for this year and take communion over it as a reminder that in my own strength there is no way to make the plan happen, but with God nothing is impossible. 

The other part of New Year's Day is giving this year a name. In the Bible names are very important and God often had to change peoples names in order for them to step into who God made them to be. The Biblical process is to name things first and then they become what they are named, rather than waiting to see what they are and then naming them. Abram had to become Abraham, Sarai had to become Sarah, Saul had to become Paul, Simon had to become Peter.

What are you going to name this year of 2021? In Psalm 136:19 David said his days were already written about in God's book. God has written a book about each of our lives and it was written before we were ever born. Part of our job is living our life in alignment with what God wrote. If the year of 2021 is a chapter in your book, what are you going to name the chapter. 

A few years ago as 2019 was getting ready to start I felt God nudging me to create a plan for the year of 2019. After finishing my plan I was led to Isaiah 61, which is the passage of scripture that Jesus reads from the scroll where he proclaims the year of the Lord's favor. Then that same night I was reading a book about Albert Einstein and the title of the chapter was The Miracle Year. God was telling me that 2019 was going to be the Miracle Year, and having a name for the year really helped me because things got tough for a season, and I kept clinging to the word that it was going to be the Miracle Year, and in fact it did become the Miracle Year.

I would encourage you to begin to seek God for the name of this year. For myself 2021 will be the Year of Greatness. For many years I have been seeking God on how to know if my life is on track. I have learned that our scoreboard in life is whether we are making other people great, but this can be a little abstract. How do we know if we are really on track? My plan for the year is to refine a system so that we can truly know if we are making others great and it is going to be based on 4 keys to greatness from the Bible. 

Key #1 Childlike faith and humility: Becoming great in the kingdom means having childlike faith and humility (Matthew 18:3). On our own we can't do much but with God nothing is impossible. I think to become great requires the childlike faith and humility to say YES to God's plan for our lives and pursue a bigger vision.  

Key #2 Gentleness: In Psalm 18:35, David says God’s gentleness made him great. As we pursue God's plan he will be gentle with us, but we must learn to also take a gentle approach ourselves and be gentle with others giving them the same grace God has given us. 

Key #3: Practice and teach: Jesus said that to be great in the kingdom, we must practice the commandments and teach them (Matthew 5:19). Are we consistently applying what we know? Then the only way to continue to grow is to teach other people. 

Key #4: Servant of many: Become the servant of many: Jesus said that if we want to be great in the kingdom, we must be the servant of many (Matthew 20:26).

Here are some steps to be implementing in order to walk out the Year of Greatness. 

1. Say YES to a bigger vision
2. Take a gentle approach rather than all or nothing 
3. Consistently practice and implement what you know to do and begin to teach others. 
4. Become the servant of many. How can you help a lot of people?