HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM DAILY HOPE DEVOTIONAL FAMILY ABOUT NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 23: 24 – 25

Here is GREAT HAPPY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR; to every one of you for encouraging us by reading our daily devotionals since its first publication in December 8, 2020. You all have made us relevant in our Gospel Ministries. The entire members of Hope Alive Christians Assembly International from where Daily Hope Devotional reaches out to you wish you wonderful New Year. I Bishop Uba Udenyi, the Presiding Bishop of the Assembly, am delighted in all of you. *Without you, our write ups would not have made inroads into the hearts of the world.

I want to use this greeting to briefly retrace shot history of New Year and New Year’s Resolutions specifically. Many of us might have written down your resolutions before this morning. However, I feel to tell you the readers of our devotional to get it write about New Year Resolutions; how it was started and what it all meant. Like Christmas with its attendant controversial story, by some individuals that it is of pagan origin, New Year celebration is awash with same controversy. I however come to tell us that arguing along that line will rob the world the reason for for season of New Year, just like Christmas.

There is no specific Bible quotation on celebrating New Year as Christians may be eager to look for, except the Israeli first year celebration mentioned above about Rosh Hashanah. This is celebrated from the first day of Tishrei during September or October.Every New Year, people of the world celebrate New Year with air of newness in pigments of pageantries. Few days before the first day of any incoming January, thousands of people involve themselves writing what is popularly known as New Year Resolutions. These supposed to be what people “resolved to do or not to do” viewing their either successes or failures of the outgoing year. Many Christians involve themselves writing these resolutions in their diaries or in whatever form they chose to write. Before discussing New Year Resolutions and the involvement of Christians in it; it is important to touch brief history of how New Year Resolutions came to be.

One should wonder why some people condemn Christians for celebrating Christmas, saying it is a feast celebrated by pagans. Strong condemnation of celebrating Christmas rests on the thinking that Jesus Christ was not born in December 25. The question here is why New Year celebration is not so much condemned? Historical records show that New Year was started by the Babylonians over 4000 years ago. Ancient Romans began their New Year celebration in Rome at about 46 B.C., when Emperor Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar and declared January 1 as the start of the New Year. Before this date both Babylonians and the Romans celebrate New Year in March which was the first month of the year.

As could be seen, celebrating New Year was principally a day the celebrants worshipped their gods and goddesses. The Romans moved New Year to January when they honour god of janus while the Babylonians worshipped their god called Marduk, their national god on New Year. With this record, how then we all joined the Romans and the Babylonians celebrating New Year? The devotional is not attacking people for celebrating New Year. But it is trying to say how New Year was started. Back to New Year Resolutions, nobody knows the exact date New Year Resolution was started. New Year Resolutions were only becoming more common by the 17th Century.

As will be seen later in our Weekly Hope Devotionals, Christians’ record of New Year Resolutions were said to begin in the 18th Century when they would hold mass on New Year’s Eve. During the worship, worshippers could reflect on the past year and make resolutions to do better in the New Year. Whatever resolutions we will be writing this year should be dressed with Christian mindedness. This should be done by prayerfully asking God about what we actually need to change and how to change it. This will be seen in our third week of our Weekly Hope Devotional.

My prayer for you all today is that God is making this year, 2025 a prosperous year for you at every angle. I welcome you all to a graceful year full of abundant blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

PRAYER:

Pray and ask God to broaden your understanding about New Year celebration in its proper and in spiritual genuineness.

FOR CONTACT:

Please send your questions prayer request to ubasimon341@gmail.com

bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch