The following brief New Year’s Eve meditation is a series of questions posed by Rev. S de Marie.[i]
DECEMBER 31, 2025 – REASON FOR JOY
READ: Isa. 66:1–24: … All flesh shall come to worship before Me …
On New Year’s Eve we look both back and forward. Let us do so with an open Bible. What has been God’s work in this past year, and what does He promise for the future?
Do we count the many tokens of His favor we have received (vv.10–13)?
Do we see that we have lived by His grace?
Do we live in reverence and trembling before His Word (vv.2, 5)?
Have we rejected the idols of our time (v.3)?
Do we recognize the great privilege of being the church of Christ—His handiwork—through which we have been nourished and strengthened throughout the year by fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him with God the Father (vv.7–11)?
Even when there was hatred or persecution (vv.2, 5)?
Are we thankful that the Lord has again, in this past year, added covenant children to His church, that some have publicly confessed their faith, and that the Lord continues to gather His people until the full number is complete (vv.8, 20)?
Do we see the unity of faith within the church as a rich gift of God—even when that means separation from other so-called “Christians” (Isa. 5:19; v.5)?
As we now look to the future: do we earnestly pray for Christ’s return—for God’s righteous final judgment upon the ungodly, and His acquittal with eternal glory for all who love Him (vv.15, 24)?
Do we sincerely long for the new heavens and the new earth, where we may serve and glorify the Lord in perfection (vv.21–22)?
Or are our hearts still more attached to this world, and do our thoughts and prayers concern mostly earthly matters?
Let us remember that the entire Bible, as the Word of God for our life with Christ on this earth, culminates in a divine exhortation (Rev.22:17–21): That the church—as the bride of Christ—together with the Holy Spirit, may pray to Christ our Savior: “Come!” And that this plea receives Christ’s own response: “Yes, I am coming soon. Amen.” So that our answer—both as church and personally—may be united with that of the apostle John: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
What is your answer to the above questions?
Sing: Ps. 106:1,2
[i] Rev. de Marie is member of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands with whom the FRCA are in the process of establishing sister churches. He presents a daily meditation, with an English translation, on the website https://www.bouwen-en-bewaren.nl/ .