January 1: A New Year and an Honest Start
Maybe last night ended the way too many nights have ended, and this morning you made the same promise again.
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Jeremiah wrote these words while sitting in the ruins of a city. Everything he loved had been broken. And right there, in the rubble, he wrote that God’s mercies are new every morning. Not new every year. Every morning.
That matters on January 1. A new year carries a lot of pressure. People make big resolutions. You may have made this one before. Maybe more than once. Maybe it lasted until the first hard Friday.
So here is a different way to begin. Don’t start with a resolution. Start with the truth.
The first of the Twelve Steps, as printed in 1939, reads: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” That isn’t a promise to do better. It is an honest look at what has already happened. It says, in effect: I tried my way, and my way didn’t work.
That sounds like defeat. It is the opposite. Every person who has found a way out started by quitting the argument with themselves. They stopped insisting they could manage it next time. They told the truth, and the truth opened a door.
God doesn’t need you to arrive with a clean record. His mercy meets you in the ruins, the same way it met Jeremiah. It is new this morning, whether last night went well or badly. You don’t earn it by being good at sobriety. You receive it.
If you are thinking about putting the bottle down for good, do it wisely. Your body may need help.
Safety first. If you drink heavily every day, stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Talk to a doctor before you quit.
One thing today
Write one honest sentence about your drinking on a piece of paper. Not a plan. Just a true sentence. Then keep the paper somewhere you’ll see it tonight.
A prayer
God, this is a new day and I am tired of the old one. I am not going to make You a big promise. I am going to tell You the truth, and ask You to meet me in it. Thank You that Your mercy is new this morning.
This month walks through Step One. If you are brand new, start here.
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