Somewhere along the line today—between football, Ryan Seacrest, and preparing to party—it will dawn on most of us that another year is lurching to an end. And that a brand-new year is waiting to spring over the horizon like a brilliant sunrise after a particularly dark and stormy night.
Some of you are probably like me. I have far fewer years ahead than I've left behind in the rearview mirror. And this time of year, a question occasionally whispers in the back of my mind. Is this my last year?
When I was younger, such questions never surfaced. I was bulletproof and immortal. I couldn't even conceive of a year beginning with a 2. Back before a driver's license broadened my horizons, I spent some New Year's Eve celebrations shooting hoops all night in our home driveway with my best friend. The radio we had propped up close by the basketball goal had Casey Kasem and his American Top Forty counting down the year's top 100 songs . . . loudly. Yeah, we were party animals.
Even each holiday season as a young adult was pretty much an occasion for self-indulgence. I think probably enough said about that, the better. But as maturity began to worm its inevitable way into my body and brain, the thought that this merry-go-round would eventually glide to a stop crept into the back of my mind, especially as we once again swapped out calendars, an old year for a new year.
Fortunately, I have an answer to those internal questions about my eventual mortality. It ain't a problem. All those questions are simply the Devil whispering his nonsense and trying to get me to question my faith. What the apostle James said about this, I have engraved on my heart: "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." Actually, my shorter version is simply, "Shut up, Satan!" And it works.
Jesus took my punishment on the cross. All the discipline and damnation I so willingly brought on myself, Jesus paid for. The eternity in hell I so richly deserve, my Savior took for me. The judgment that awaits me, that awaits all of us … well, I get to hide behind Jesus on that day. The King of kings and Lord of lords died for me, so I don't have to die.
So, today, as I change the calendar over to a new one for 2024, the question comes creeping, unbidden: Is this my last year? I just laugh and repeat my mantra: "Shut up, Satan!" Because of Jesus, I get to live forever.
Are you ready to resist the Devil in this brand-new year?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Tumisu.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Kevin Spencer likes to play with words, help others play with them, and is privileged to be a staff writer for Christian Devotions. He lives with his beautiful blessing of a wife, Charlotte, and his amazing collegiate grandson, Caleb.