In a very significant way, there’s a direct connection between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Set apart by precisely one week, both holidays signify the importance of beginnings. Christmas is the day of celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Messiah – the day that God entered the world as a human, beginning his march towards the cross more than thirty years later. God’s gift came into the world celebrated by angels and shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem, but he would die under the condemnation of the very people whom he came to save. In the three- and one-half years preceding his crucifixion, Jesus profoundly impacted the people living in and around Israel, with his profound teaching, his miracles, and his demonstration of faithfulness to the will of God.
When the Apostle Paul was describing the day of Jesus’ birth to the church in Galatia, he wrote that it occurred “when the fullness of time had come” (Gal 4:4), and this is something that we must consider when it comes to beginnings. You see, the plan for Jesus’ life didn’t come together when he was born. His earthly experience was planned long before, and we see the initial framework laid out in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve first sinned, and God promised one to come who would crush the head of the serpent who led Eve astray. But we then see practical things take place in the centuries prior to Jesus’ birth, such as when the Greeks conquered territories in Europe and Asia and their Hellenization effort led to a common language throughout most of the known world, or when the Roman Empire which followed created a trade network of roads and harbors that allowed for safe and efficient transportation throughout those territories.
Before Jesus’ earthly ministry could begin, there were lots of things that needed to be put in place, and that is not unlike beginning most any endeavor of significance. The planning and the organizing that can be done before something happens can make all the difference in the outcome of that effort. There’s an adage that declares “A job well begun is a job half-done” and it captures this sentiment beautifully, underscoring the need to think carefully about how we begin.
The reality about New Year’s Day is that it is coming in just one week, regardless of whether you have done any planning for it or not. The years that you have lived to this point have provided you with a level of preparation that you will bring into the upcoming twelve months, but without a plan for that time, your job is most definitely not half-done when it begins, and it is highly unlikely that someone will say, about your beginning, that it took place in the fullness of time. But the good news is that the best plan for the new year is to begin it by following Christ, just as New Year’s Day follows Christmas. With that as your plan for 2026, you can be confident that all that you confront in the upcoming year will be worked for your good, and that sounds like a fantastic starting point to me.
Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year! – Pastor Aaron