New Year Praises

Sisters and Brothers,

The cycle of time has gone around another circle, and we are in January again. I extend New Year Blessings to everyone!

What should we do now that we have made it to another year? Our prolific hymnist Charles Wesley put it poetically into words that we often start Covenant Services with.

Sing to the great Jehovah’s praise.
All praise to him belongs,
who kindly lengthens all our days,
demands our choicest songs.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Indeed, it is God who gives us life- length of days- and for this we must be eternally grateful.
And how better to show gratitude than through praise?

Here, it is worth reminding ourselves that we praise with our lips and we praise with our lives. God wants the best for us, that our lives show forth God’s abundance in all aspects. We may well seek to improve our lives as though we are the architects, without stopping to consider the Life Giver. If we are wise, however, we will use all the means available to us through God’s grace to grow fully.

It is incumbent on us to use all the opportunities provided to improve our lives holistically- spiritually, emotionally, mentally, socially, educationally, materially- in every dimension. What we do with the gift of life might be the best part of our worship, when we acknowledge the hand of God in blessing us with these improvements.

So, go for it. Take hold of life. Improve on it, for God’s sake. In 2026, seize the chance to become the better you that only God can help you to. And then, even if you may not have the sweetest singing voice, you will want to talk and sing God’s praise for lifting you to a higher level.

When we make the most of our opportunities, we close doors to regret and embrace opportunities to give thanks. Then we can praise God with our speech, with songs and music, and with our whole life.

And so, for our New Year Prayer, I close with a stanza from another of our favourite writers.

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
In every part with praise
That my whole being may proclaim
Thy being and thy ways.
Amen.
Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)