ABC News anchor Peter Jennings said, "It's not possible to simply celebrate this New Year's Eve, there's also a need to reflect."

There is a need to reflect this year. Certainly we need to reflect upon the events of 9-11 that Jennings was referring to with his remarks. But we also need to reflect upon our sinfulness, our blessings and the opportunities that lay ahead.

That's exactly what King David did when he wrote Psalm 51. He lamented his sinfulness, longed to enjoy the blessings of God's salvation and hoped to make a difference in his world by pointing others to God.

Psalm 51:10-13 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. [11] Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. [13] Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee."

IBT-USA asked their clients for their New Year's Resolutions for the office in 2006, the top ten responses were:

—http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=11184

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

In "Life and Livelihood: A Handbook for Spirituality at Work", Whitney Wherrett Roberson writes, "Only a few of us take our New Year's resolutions with great seriousness, but the practice of making them does afford us the opportunity to recall what we most value and to re-orient ourselves toward these values."

Proverbs 4:25-27 (NIV) 25 "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. [26] Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. [27] Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."

Last year, New Years Eve evoked mixed emotions. Though I anticipated a new beginning, the Christmas season was fading. As I ran errands, I noticed the signs, "Christmas-75% off." How strange that one week earlier, beautiful decorations and lights filled the shelves. Now, crumpled packages and damaged inventory littered the aisle.

Too often the retail mentality diminishes our Christmas celebration. As soon as December 25 passes, we discount the holiday gala to get on with the business of life. I wondered how long it would be before I read the Christmas story in Luke 2 again? I felt sometimes I treated the gift of God's son like retail stores treated the leftover Christmas merchandise. What I needed was a reminder of God's presence throughout the coming year.

In the Southwestern United States luminarias are a favorite Christmas decoration. The small bags containing a handful of sand and a candle outline walls, driveways, and homes each Christmas Eve. Tradition says these tiny lights light the way for the Christ child on that special night. This tradition gave me an idea for New Year's Eve.

In the garage I found what I needed, candles, paper lunch bags, and matches. I enlisted my children to put sand in the bottom of each bag and then added a candle. We outlined our drive with the New Year's Luminarias. At midnight, while the bells pealed and skyrockets welcomed another year, we stood in our drive. The soft candlelight reminded us of God's guiding radiance. He would be with us, no matter what the new year brought. We faced a fresh start, certain the Lord would see us through.

In our family, our new tradition, New Year's Lights, reminds us that Jesus, the Light of the World, will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us even to the end of the age.

Bill Vaughan says, "An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."

If you find that, you would like to forget the events of the past year or decade, all you may need is a shedder. On the last Monday of 2009, organizers invited New York residents seeking a fresh start in 2010 to come to Times Square and shred their bad memories of the old year. The Times Square Alliance organizes the event, known as Good Riddance Day as part of the build up to celebrating the New Year. The organization also provided a dumpster and sledgehammer for items that were too big to be shredded.

Among those who came to shred bad memories was Ben Winnick. Winnick shredded a newspaper story about the New York Giants loss to the Carolina Panthers, which ended the Giants, playoff hopes. Winnck said,” Hopefully next season will be better. Roxanne Rodriguez shredded a piece of paper with the word “Writer’s Block” written on it. She said she was going to focus in 2010. Other shredded old bills or memories of former boyfriends and girlfriends. The $250 prize for the most creative item shredded went to a 12-year-old who was visiting from Los Angeles. Alissa Yankelevits shredded the memory of a counselor on a school trip who was later featured on America’s Most Wanted. Alissa said, “I just spent a week with him. It was really terrifying because I just found that out.”

--Times Square Shredder Offers Good Riddance to 2009, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_odd_times_square_shredder; December 28, 2009, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Life has both good and bad memories. Shredding the bad ones won’t help us forget. The key to handling the memories and thoughts of life is submitting them to the Lordship of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV) “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”