God Has Not
Given up on Us

Even when convictions wane, God offers grace for us to renew our commitment to Him, not just in the New Year, but every day.

By Robert M. Solomon

Every newborn baby, observed a wise man, is a sign that God has not given up on us. I suppose the same is true with every new year we enter. God has not given up on us.

Some churches observe what has become known as a “covenant service” on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or the first Sunday in January. One primary theme in the traditional covenant service is the renewal of one’s commitment to serve God. In the Wesleyan and some other traditions, the service often includes the following prayer:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

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These are great words describing the highest forms of discipleship. If only we could live them out in our daily lives. But alas—all too often, our resolve to follow Christ, no matter what, flounders in the face of distractions and difficulties along the way.

Hence, the covenant service may also emphasise repentance and confession. Even the best of us is tainted by a thousand imperfections.

The covenant service at the beginning of the year offers us an opportunity to realise where we have failed God, where our love for God has grown cold, and where we have forgotten what we had promised.

When convictions are neglected

In this respect, we can learn a lesson or two from Gideon, an Old Testament character. He was one of the judges who led Israel in the days when the people had no king (Judges 6–8). The Israelites were living in disobedience to the Lord. As a result, God allowed the Midianites to oppress them. When they cried out to God for help, God called Gideon to act for Him and His people. Gideon was a man who obeyed God in faith, but also someone so very careful about saying “yes” to God that he had to be assured by God through various signs. God was very patient with him.

Despite his hesitancy, Gideon was used by God to secure a great victory against the Midianites. The people of Israel were so impressed that they came to Gideon and told him, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian” (8:22).

Gideon gave them a great and commendable answer: “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you” (v. 23). He reminded his fellow Israelites that in the theocracy, God was to be their ruler and king.

All this is wonderful—except that the story does not end there. We are later told that Gideon went on to have 70 sons and many wives (v. 30), a social arrangement that only kings could afford in those days. The man who refused to be king, declaring that only God was to be king, unfortunately began to live like a king.

Worse, he had a son whom he named Abimelech. This name literally means “my father is king”. Evidently, Gideon’s earlier conviction that God alone should be king had been eroded by years of negligence.

Gideon, who was greatly used by God in his younger years, appears to have backslidden and gone back on the statement he made in the presence of God and His people.

The same thing happened to Simon Peter. When Jesus predicted that His disciples would flee when He was arrested, Peter was the one who said, with over-inflated confidence, that he would not flee like the other disciples and that Jesus could rely on him (Mark 14:29). He broke his proud promise when put to the test. In fact, he denied that he had anything to do with Jesus not just once, but three times, just as Christ had predicted.

He felt so terrible after this that he wept. Later, when he met the risen Christ face to face, he was given a new chance to commit himself to the Lord, but only after carefully considering his calling (John 21). When Jesus asked Peter to love Him, serve Him, and follow Him, the apostle responded with faith and obedience and never looked back.

A time to examine and renew

In every New Year season, God gives us a new chance to examine how we are following Christ and to renew our commitment to Him. We have an opportunity to renew our covenant with Jesus. In the words of the covenant service, may our prayer be:

I come, Lord. I believe, Lord. I throw myself upon Your grace and mercy. I trust Your saving death alone to save me. Do not refuse me. I have nowhere else to go. Here I will stay.

I will trust You, and rest in You, and risk myself for You. On You I lay my hope for pardon, for life, for salvation. If I perish, I perish on Your shoulders. If I sink, I sink in Your ship. If I die, I die at Your door. Do not bid me to go away, for I will not go.

I come, Lord. I believe, Lord. I throw myself upon Your grace and mercy. I trust Your saving death alone to save me. Do not refuse me. I have nowhere else to go. Here I will stay.

Let us each resolve to love God with all our hearts, follow Christ all the way, and obey the Spirit all our days. For who knows how many more new years we will get to see.

Robert M. Solomon is a well-known preacher and Bible teacher in Singapore and abroad. Drawing from his extensive ministry and faithful study of God’s Word, he has written more than 50 books on faithful Christian living, spiritual leadership, Bible study, and many other topics.