“That’s it…I’m done”.
Those were the words—or something like them—that I groaned some fourteen years ago. I had been out the night before celebrating the New Year like a drunken fool, stock piling toilet paper, and assuming the apocalypse was upon us. In truth the celebration was empty and the fear was real. Eternity was set upon my heart and I had a difficult time drinking away my sorrows and loneliness.
The Lord had been working over my heart for a few months—actually a few years. In fact I might have even been a believer at this point. I don’t know. I don’t have one of those SPOT’s (specific place or time) that the evangelist said I was supposed to have. I don’t really know when I was saved, I just know that I am. But I do know on January 1st of 2000 a very decisive shift took place. I think this is when the Hound of Heaven tracked me down.
For many people January 1st is a day of starting over and making resolutions to become a better person in the coming year. For me, January 1st is more than starting over. It’s a day of new birth. It’s a day when tetelestai (paid in full) was written over my debts. It’s a day when everything changed. So, while I do occasionally spend my New Year’s Day thinking about how to be more obedient to Christ in the coming year, more than anything I spend the day celebrating God’s rescue of me.
On that day I cried out, “I’m finished” and the Savior met with reality that in Him “It is finished”. All my sin was swallowed up in His righteousness. All my want was overcome with His beauty. He captivated me. And I’ve never been the same since that day.
For me the New Year always reminds me of my New Birth.
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I love to hear stories of God’s grace. How did Christ captivate your heart?
