Pin the Tail on the New Years

The end has come for the year 2011 and as the new year approaches I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how I have grown in Jesus this year. Which got me thinking... it seems that New Years is advertised as a big deal because it's your time to think and reflect and start over. Of course that is what a lot of people do when the new year comes.. I mean.. people *try* to do that. They try to make the new year sound like some deep meaningful mile marker that is so great an achievement that we should all pat each other on the back and give free high fives.  It sounds silly.. but it's true. Why is it that people try to make New Years into something so big?  


I've found that people see New Years as that chance to start over, turn a new page, if you will. It's a nice concept. I feel like New Years might mean a lot more to non-believers because their chances to "start brand new" only happens once a year...ish. Thank goodness God's mercies are new every morning. No one has to wait for the New Year seeing as God is available 24/7, but since a lot of people don't see any need to believe in God or ask God for help or include God in their lives... New Years is as good a time as any to attempt to create some order to one's life.


 I'm sure a lot of people can relate to the feeling of going through life blind folded. (Christians call it walking by faith.) Sometimes life is a bit like the game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.. you're blind folded. Everyone is trying to tack a tail onto the thing and of course they look foolish as they blindly stick it where ever they think it goes and often finding themselves missing the mark by a long shot. Of course there are the kids who wait for their turn and watch where the other kids put their failed tails and attempt to grope out the right spot with their fingers while wearing their blindfolds... a noble effort.. but still off. 
People blindly try to pin the meaning of things all over their life. Death... why do people die? What comes after you die? What is one's life purpose? Life.. What did I do with my entire last year? What should I do this coming year? What's the point of New Year's resolutions if I know I'm not gonna follow through? We try to tack on the answers and meanings where we think they go. We try to follow the examples of others and feel out the answer from what others have tried.
But, Jesus is like that kind adult that would take the blind folded person's hand and guide it to the right spot on the donkey. It doesn't always feel right because there are no other tails around it cuz everyone else has missed the mark by a long shot and it feels like you're just tacking the tail on in the middle of nowhere. But Jesus know what he's doing, he's got answers. Alls we have to do is trust him.