As we, by God’s grace, go into another new year that we do not deserve, let’s remember to do so by faith. Let’s remember, with God’s help, that at the best of times we are only bruised reeds and smouldering wicks (Isaiah 42:3), and that God in His goodness has given a Saviour-King who will not break or quench us. 

The beginning of a new year inevitably brings with it numerous thoughts of change and reorientation. The new year is a time that lends itself naturally to reflection, to pondering the path of our feet to see what elements of our lives are good and beneficial or what parts need to be adjusted and let go (Prov. 4:26). This in itself is of course a good and fine thing, especially in a culture that is increasingly harried, frantic, and burdened. Yet, as with everything, there is a way to go about this business that’s more troublesome than helpful, like trying to rake leaves in a hurricane or put the lid on a box full of crickets.

The way to which I am referring has to do with depending on carnal rather than spiritual means, with falling back on human rather than divine help. In our zeal to improve ourselves, in other words, we might very quickly find that we are working against ourselves. We might find that, despite our resolve, all our efforts are “vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl. 2:11).

The difference between these two outcomes lies in the difference between Jericho and Ai (Josh. 6–7), which is to say, between going up with the Lord’s blessing versus going up without it. As the story of Scripture makes abundantly clear, these are the only two ways to live—either in the flesh or in the Spirit, under the blessing of God or under the condemnation of God, by faith or by unbelief. The one thing we cannot do is opt out of this dichotomy. This is the way reality is structured, whether we like it or not.

God: The Principal Agent

This being the case, it’s worth remembering where fruitfulness actually comes from. And to give you a hint, it’s not from “traditional values” or the supposedly unconquerable resolve of the human spirit. Rather, fruitfulness comes from God Himself:

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