Making Things New (Friday Devotional)

 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

- Revelation 21:5

On Wednesday night, the clock struck midnight and a ball dropped in New York City. All around the country, couples exchanged kisses, resolutions were made, champagne flowed, and fireworks exploded into the night sky. After all, it was a new year!

Hours later, those same people woke up after their night partying and discovered something they’d known when they lay their head down to sleep: 2026 offered them the exact same world as the one 2025 had left behind. The calendar had changed, but seemingly little else had.

For believers in Jesus, the hope of a new year—much like that of a sunrise or the blooming of a flower—is merely a shadow of a promised future day when, by the power of the Lord, things will look different. On that day, the Bible promises, fear will give way to victory and sorrow to joy. On that day, faith will become sight and the redemption all believers have experienced spiritually will cover creation. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and the home of God will be with mortals forever. Everything, Scripture promises, will be made new.

Yet for now, we wait, stuck in a December 31 world, anxiously waiting for the clock to strike midnight. With eagerness, we look forward to Christ’s return and the newness he will usher in. With faith, we place our hope in the future won on Jesus’ cross and sealed by his resurrection.

And there’s one more thing you can do while you wait: you can begin preparing yourself and the world around you for that new day. Instead of playing by the world’s rules, you can live according to eternity’s. Instead of holding tight to the promise of the gospel, you can share it freely. In a world of selfishness and strife, you can be a beacon of the generosity and peace to come. With the knowledge that Jesus is coming soon, you can be his ambassador.

It’s a new year, and until Christ returns, it’s probably going to look suspiciously like the old year. But in his name, you can do your part to make things new.