Day 360

Zechariah 9:1-17; Revelation 17:1-18; Psalm 145:1-21; Proverbs 30:32

THE LAST COUPLE of days have, no doubt, been busy ones. More honestly, it has probably been an exhausting month. Today, we’ll likely dine on what is left of yesterday’s feast and perhaps go shopping for exchanges or after-Christmas sales. Family may be migrating back to their homes or remaining through the next week, but today, our hearts begin to slowly move away from the Christmas season, and our focus begins to shift toward goals for the coming new year.

Our reading from Proverbs today offered sage advice that will help us as we move forward: “If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame” (Proverbs 30:32).

No matter how we’ve conducted ourselves during the last couple of days, it’s unlikely that we haven’t exhibited or encountered pride. Typically we notice this in the overinflated version of ourselves that we portray. In fact, over the last couple of days, we may have endured hours of conversation with loved ones who like to compare everything from gifts to careers to spouses to children. Worse yet, we may have made others endure hours of our own posturing.

The forthright advice of Proverbs is to cover our mouths. This little morsel of ancient wisdom may seem harsh at first blush, but it’s actually freeing. We are being given permission to refrain from the game of one-upmanship. According to Proverbs, this makes us look like a fool anyway, and we don’t have to do it. Rather, we can chomp down on prideful words that need not be spoken and instead simply be who we are, where we are, honestly.

We don’t have to step into the new year with a falseness about us that has to be continually inflated. Perhaps we could lose it, along with the pounds we’re planning to shed. After all, we’ve learned in Scripture that our identity is found only by truly embracing God’s long-suffering mercy. We’re not required to pose or hide. We don’t have to present an image of ourselves that imagines what we hope to be but aren’t. This is foolish and will get us nowhere in the coming year. Instead, we can walk into freedom as ourselves.

Let’s remember what the apostle Paul told us —we are invited to “reflect the glory of the Lord” upon the earth (2 Corinthians 3:18). This cannot be achieved if we are lost in our insecurities and reflecting our own false glory through pride.

Think about it. You are invited to be yourself as you reflect God’s glory. If there were a worthy New Year’s resolution, this would be it.

MEDITATION:

The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.