The New Year is like hitting a reset button.  We start over with a series of “firsts”; first day, first week, first month, etc.  With these “firsts” comes a series of existential questions: What do I want to do first? What do I need to do first? Most importantly, what will I put first in my life?  It seems that New Year’s Resolutions are all about making choices about our priorities. In the midst of this choosing, there are so many people and things clamoring for us to make them our priority.  Sometimes, this is why a new year of possibilities feels a bit overwhelming.

The Living Bible paraphrases a famous verse from Proverbs 3:5 by stating: “In everything you do, put God first…” This seems to be exactly what Jesus did, and exactly what he asks his followers to do. It begins with baptismal faith in a God who claims us as God’s beloved children.  Jesus calls us and invites us to invite others before we do anything else.  Then, in all things we seek first to season the world with God’s love and shine into the world, God’s light.  The new year is charged with all kinds of possibilities when we live into the words of Matthew 6:33: “Seek first God’s Kingdom and God’s righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well.”