In Ephesians 4:22-24, which we will be studying together on this New Year’s Sunday we find another great example of a God who loves transformation and newness. It says, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

There are no geographic solutions to problems that we carry around within us. This coming year will be no different from the last if we ourselves remain the same. It is not at all uncommon for people to leave jobs, schools, churches, relationships, etc… because things went bad, but when they try to start over in a new setting, or with new people, or with a new turning of the calendar they find that the same problems they experienced in the old context crop up in the new. No matter how far you go or how fast you run, you can’t put distance between you and yourself. So, God’s Word calls us to put off the old self and put on the new. These words are full of hope for those of us who desire to see change in the coming year.