Has the New Worn Off?
You may be reading these words when 2020 is less than a couple of weeks old. Just a few days ago, we were expressing to others wishes for a “happy new year.” Some of us made a lot of (or a few) resolutions. We somehow tried to convince ourselves that the new year would provide for us new and exciting prospects.
Maybe we should know better. Many of us have seen the new wear off before.
Less than a month ago, some of us saw children get all excited about some new toy they had received as a present. We’ve also seen that the excitement waned very quickly – sometimes before the day was over. It didn’t take long for the new to wear off for them.
Those of us who are adults are not immune to this. How many of us have been excited about a new vehicle, piece of jewelry, “gadget,” etc. only for a while. After a while, when the new wears off, we start looking for a replacement.
How about that new job that looked so promising at one time? Do you remember when you “gave it your all” for a while? Did that commitment and enthusiasm last? After a while, did it become more like a “daily grind?”
Sadly, the new can wear off of things more important than things and careers. The new can wear off of relationships. How many young, excited newlyweds wake up one day years later to find that they are neither young nor excited?
What are they to do? Should they end this relationship? Should each one of them start new relationships with other people (only to find out that the new will also wear off of it, too)? Should they just trudge along and try to “peacefully coexist?”
It seems to me that there is another (and better) option. What about “dating” again? What about doing those things that first attracted the other person? What about actually putting the same effort into the relationship that brought the two people together in the first place and which added to the excitement of those early days?
Before we get too far removed from the beginning of a new year, I would like for all of us to consider how this applies to the most important relationship of all. The relationships with family, friends, coworkers, etc. are important, but they pale in comparison to a person’s relationship with the Lord.
How about your relationship with Him? Has the new worn off of that? Are those early days when you were excited about being a child of God and committed to living for Him only a distant memory now? Are you only “going through the motions?”
One passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament should be sufficient to convince us that it is possible for our relationship with God and our appreciation for that relationship to be constantly renewed.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3:23-24).
…though our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).
As comforting and encouraging as those (and other) passages are, we are saddened as we read about an entire church, the church at Ephesus, which had “…abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev. 2:4). It certainly sounds to me like the new had worn off of their relationship with the Lord.
What were they told to do? How could what they were told to do apply to our own individual relationships with God – and even with others?
There are three key words in Rev. 2:5 that, it seems to me, would go a long, long way in preventing the new from wearing off of relationships. Those words (and a little commentary) are:
- Remember (Think about what it was like in the beginning when everything was new.)
- Repent (Change the attitudes and actions which have caused distance and dissatisfaction.)
- Do (Actions do speak more loudly than words. Your “loved ones” know that and so does the Lord; Luke 6:46.)
It is my prayer that, as the pages of the calendar are turned during 2020 (and beyond, if the Lord is willing), each of us will do what we can to keep the new from wearing off of what really is important. It is also my prayer that, if you do not have a relationship with the Lord, you will establish one with Him as soon as you possibly can.
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
