Better than a “Good Riddance Day” …

By the time a new year rolls around, it’s very common that many people are happy to see the old one go.

In fact, that desire sparked what is now an annual observance of a “Good Riddance Day.” The 2023 gathering was reported as follows:

Saying farewell to yesterday might be a challenge for some, but not for the numerous New Yorkers who bid a traditional farewell to 2023 in Times Square ahead of the big New Year’s Eve celebration. At the 17th annual Good Riddance Day Thursday, bad memories were burned – literally.

Good Riddance Day is inspired by a Latin American tradition in which New Year’s revelers stuffed dolls with objects representing bad memories before setting them on fire.

In Times Square, attendees wrote down their bad memories on pieces of paper. “COVID,” “Cancer,” “Our broken healthcare system,” “Spam calls and emails,” “Bad coffee,” and “Single Use Plastics” were some of the entries.

Every December 28, this event gives people the opportunity to write down everything they want to leave in the past and destroy any unpleasant, unhappy, and unwanted memories – so that they can toss them into an incinerator and watch them vanish.

What painful experience, memory, or consequence caused by sin would you like to leave behind in the New Year? Just writing it down and burning the paper may not make much of a change, but God’s faithfulness and relentless expression of mercy toward us can transform lives. God is persistent with offering fresh starts, as we’re reminded about in Lamentations 3:22-23, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

On the first day of a new year, that message can be especially encouraging.

2024 is finished, now in the history books. On this first day of a new year, remind yourself that God’s mercies begin fresh each morning.

Happy New Year!

Scotty