2023 New Year Message
“Looking back and looking forward”
Proverbs 4:26
“Mark out a straight path for your feet;
stay on the safe path.”
In “Looking back and looking forward,” the Australian Institute of Family Studies conducts
annual survey on family reflections. The latest one “Families’ reflections on 2021 and hopes
for 2022 - Families in Australia Survey Report”, reveals mixed reflections to the question of
“whether they considered it to have been a good (or very good) year, a bad (or very bad)
year, or neither”: only 5% considered it a very good year while 5% rating it a very bad year;
31% considered 2021 a good year for their family while 19% considered it a bad year; with
39% rating it as “neither a good nor a bad year” (bearing in mind the 2019 Covid pandemic
has some effects in this survey). 1 What would the reflections on 2022 and hopes for 2023
look like?
While looking back and looking forward in the process of thinking through our New Year
resolutions, and if you are stuck, why not think about how to “mark out a straight path for
your feet, and stay on the safe path” (Proverbs 4:26)? The Word of God is safe for us to use
to guide our daily living – in times of needs, we learn to see God’s provisions and find
comfort; in times of fear, we learn to see God’s protection and find peace; and in times of
despair, we learn to see God’s promises and find hope. When we reminisce, we look back to
our past for times of positive emotions to feel the joy once again, or to feel the sense of
accomplishment once again, or to feel loved or connected to our loved ones. We all have
the ability to recall and reflect upon things and beliefs that help us define our identities and
give us affirmation and hope.
The Word of God from Proverbs 4:26 teaches us the way to pave the best road to walk on
through 2023. In reminiscing, let the Word of God help us ponder the path our feet will walk
into our future. We are to consider, contemplate, examine, and reflect, in order to maintain
good use of our knowledge together with wisdom. We have the ability to accumulate
knowledge but no guarantee to act according to godly wisdom. 2023 may look different
from 2022, perhaps different in ways that bring challenges and excitement when the new
life in Christ suddenly reveals to you the purpose of life. Proverbs 4:20-22 contain God’s
enduring words calling out to His children:
20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
Therefore, be purposeful and careful in deliberating our steps for our pathways in 2023 to
“stay on the safe path” with Christ Jesus, God’s provision of the saving pathway. An
encouragement from Hebrews 12:13 – “Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those
who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.”
May the Lord bless you with a meaningful 2023!
Pastor Susan
1 https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/looking-back-looking-forward