It Is Not Just In With In With The New

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Based on the news, especially the emergent news, not a Happy New Year in the Swiss Alps.  Pray for all involved.  The headlines generally were of the Eeyore variety, but that is entirely predictable since, much to the MSM chagrin – Donald Trump is still POTUS.  But it set me thinking.  What would it take to make it different?  How could this new year begin with new thinking?

My mind turned to my favorite Biblical verse on newness:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

I notice with new eyes that the newness is conditional on the “passing away” (death) of the old.  Which lead me to a parallel verse, also written by Paul, but this time to the church in Galatia:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

That’s more explicit, isn’t it.  “I have been crucified with Christ….”  There is an exchange here.  For the new to truly take hold, the old has to die.  We have to let go of it.  We can’t just add newness, we must also allow the old to pass away.  That’s not easy.

We like to accumulate things.  The continued growth of the self-storage industry is proof positive of that fact.  But it also proves that we hate to let go of things.  And yet, if we really want the new – the better – then we have to let go of the old.

There’s a resolution idea for you – let go.

POSTSCRIPT:  The host is undoubtedly in deep, deep mourning given that Ohio State was eliminated from the college football playoffs last night.  Go gentle on him, at least until Indiana wins it all.  Another Big Ten school winning it all is just too much ammunition not to use.  (Oregon does not count as a Big Ten school, actual conference affiliation not withstanding.  Those PAC-10 schools that have recently joined the Big Ten are an infestation.  [Speaking of not letting go of the old.])