Was January 1st that special or was it just another day? The inert part of the creation, like the gears in a watch, just marks another day without noting the beginning of another trip around the sun, so we have been told. But we are part of the creation, created in the image and likeness of God, and the start of a new year is important to us. Celebrating the new year is part of the creation similar to the way the Sabbath is. We celebrate the Sabbath by command of the Creator, the new year, by custom and tradition.
To the mechanical part of the creation, the 7th day of the week is just another sunrise to sunrise. Not so to the creator.
Genesis 2:3, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.
There is no command to celebrate the new year like there is to rest one day in every seven but there are memorial customs that we have inherited or occasionally invent that are important to remember for similar reasons, at least for the Christian: to honor God, to thank Him, to take time to worship Him. Such traditions are part of the spontaneous order that God has designed into the creation, expressions of the image and likeness of God in us.
2023 coincidentally began on the day we set aside for a sabbath rest. It has been so ever since the resurrection of the Son of God. Sabbath means rest, not a specific day of the week. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was by date of the month, not by day of the week.[1] Even if we have to work on Sunday to serve others, we rest on another day in 7. Ever notice that Sundays are not a day of rest for pastors? Every day we rest in the knowledge that the everlasting God is a refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.
This year, the 1st of January was a doubly good day to rest and contemplate the mercies and grace of God and to thank Him for it, both by command and custom. He brought us through the adventures, tears and joys of 2022 Based on God’s proven faithfulness, goodness and justice, let us look forward to the new year with hope and determination to serve Him with all our hearts and strength and mind. The One who created the universe also sustains it and so we trust there will be a December 31st, 2023, whether or not we are here to see it. Make each day count, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
Therefore, be very careful how you live—not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason, do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:15–17
[1] Curtis Clair Ewing, Israel’s Calendar and the True Sabbath (Los Angeles: The National Message Ministry, n.d.), p. 9. Quoted in Rushdoony, Rousas John. The Institutes of Biblical Law, Volume One. Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1973, p. 135-136
