January freshness. New calendars. Fun Day-Timers. Blank squares.

We love the feeling of starting again, and the New Year brings many reminders of what we hope will be different. But before you enjoy the beautiful new things that are coming, look at what has been thrown away. A scribbled, grimy calendar in the kitchen. A tattered Day-Timer with loose pages and messy sticky notes. Lists and reminders that never let us rest. Toss them in the garbage and start over!

The words of Psalm 51:10 bring us encouragement and hope for spiritual newness. God’s grace and the washing of rebirth is so much more than a new calendar. Its fresh hope brings a daily treasure we need more than a Day-Timer. Forgiveness in Christ. Eternal life. Joy. But the words that precede this verse tell us about what is thrown out in our spiritual lives. Worse than grimy, tattered calendars, our sin is filthy baggage that needs to be taken out. “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51:4).

Jesus does that for you. He comes and takes everything dirty, hopeless, and ugly and destroys it with his death on the cross. Every new day he wakes you with the promise of new life purchased for you by the blood of Jesus. Each moment you are covered with his love. Everything is pure and renewed because of him.