As we are about to celebrate the ringing in of the Civil New Year 2021 on January 1, we are reminded of the good news of the many instances of Christ’s life throughout the year. With the Feast of the Nativity of Christ (December 25), we now turn our attention to other events in his earthly life including his circumcision January 1st and shortly thereafter his baptism in the river Jordan.
The Jewish practice of circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant or agreement with Abraham as recounted to us in Genesis 17 when God told Abraham, “I will be your God and the God of your descendants”. (Genesis 17:7)
It has been written that even if we no longer have to submit to physical circumcision, we still have to submit to a true spiritual circumcision. Our covenant with God, the new covenant in Jesus Christ, must bring about in us the complete submission of our flesh and its desires to God, the complete consecration and sanctification of our body and its natural function…And it is not only our flesh that needs spiritual circumcision; first and above all else, it is our heart…all our thoughts, all our desires, all our feelings. …The great commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart”, expresses quite clearly what is meant by the words, “the circumcision of the heart” for us as Christians.
Therefore, this New Year’s Day in the light of the early events in the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, beckons us, the people of the New Covenant, to undergo a renewal in Christ Jesus and the beginning of new possibilities, hope and vision for the coming new year, for he alone can grant us new spirits, new hearts, new relationships, as we earnestly leave behind what belongs to the old nature and embraces what belongs to the new nature in the likeness of Christ.
May the peace, joy and happiness of the new year fill your hearts with all good things! Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Christ is Born!
