Happy New Year! 2026 has finally arrived and we say goodbye to 2025. The New Year tradition for many cultures around the world is to anticipate new beginnings. People look forward in the hope that the best is yet to come, but does it always? The famous singer Frank Sinatra captured this earthly in his song “the Best is yet come” and the song speaks of the idea that there is something better than our current experiences.
The reality of our experience is every year there are always highs and lows in this world. In one sense this is true of some things we taste in life but the reality we see is that all things are temporal. But there is something about New Year which makes us think eternal thoughts amongst our working under the sun. The truth of the matter is we can taste the good things of life but also the bittersweet symphony of hardships, trials and even the loss of those things we love in our life.
King Solomon expounds on this harsh toil of life we face under the sun. However, Solomon led by the Holy Spirit also profoundly wrote of this one truth. The Truth that God has written eternity on the hearts of people (Ecc 3:11). So, it is no accident or mere chance or luck that people everywhere look for lasting eternal purpose and meaning in their life.
So, what about the Christian? How should we reflect well for 2026? For the Christian we strain ahead towards our goal (Phil 3:12-14). Unlike temporal hopes, purposes and meaning which will fade, this hope of our Living Saviour will not. Again, the custom this time of New Year is to reflect all those things which have come to pass, and to consider the things yet to come. We also reflect by forgetting, by forgetting what is behind, but are not short sighted in our looking forward to just 2026.
We can say the best is yet to come in the truer sense because we are called Heavenward to Christ who is bigger than a year or a season. But our looking forward is not stationary but rather active and straining like an athlete. Therefore, as Christians, whatever we are running through this year, let us strain in the power of God’s Spirit motivating all our reflecting, tasks, planning and even adversity under our Heavenly Father’s eternal perspective, revealed to us through His Son.
新年快樂！2026 年終於來到，我們也向 2025 年道別。對世界上許多文化而言，新年是一個期待新開始的傳統。人們懷著盼望向前看，相信最好的尚未到來；但真的是這樣嗎？著名歌手法蘭克・辛納屈在他的歌曲〈The Best Is Yet to Come〉中捕捉了這種世俗的期待，表達了這樣的想法：總會有比當下經歷更美好的事。
然而，我們的現實經驗告訴我們，每一年在這個世界上總有高峰與低谷。某種意義上，這確實反映了我們在生命中所嚐到的一些事物，但我們所看見的現實是：萬事都是短暫的。儘管如此，新年卻總能在我們「日光之下」忙碌勞碌之時，引發我們對永恆的思考。事實是，我們既能品嚐生命中的美好，也會經歷苦樂參半的旋律——艱難、試煉，甚至失去我們所珍愛的事物。
所羅門王深刻地闡述了我們在日光之下所面對的艱辛勞苦。然而，在聖靈的引導下，所羅門也深刻地寫下了一個真理：神將永恆安置在世人的心裡（傳道書 3:11）。因此，人們在各處尋求持久、永恆的目的與生命意義，並非偶然，也不是巧合或運氣。
那麼，基督徒又該如何面對呢？我們應當如何好好反思 2026 年？對基督徒而言，我們是向著目標竭力追求（腓立比書 3:12–14）。與那些終將消逝的短暫盼望、目的與意義不同，我們對活著的救主所懷抱的盼望永不褪色。每逢新年，人們習慣回顧已經發生的一切，並思考尚未來到的事。我們在反思時，也學習忘記背後的事；然而，我們的眼光並不只停留在 2026 年這一年。
從更真實的意義上說，我們可以宣告「最好的尚未到來」，因為我們被呼召向天而行，歸向基督——祂超越一年或一個季節。但我們的盼望並非靜止不動，而是像運動員一樣積極、竭力向前。因此，作為基督徒，無論我們在這一年奔跑於何種光景之中，都讓我們在神的靈能力之下竭力前行，使我們一切的反思、事奉、計劃，甚至在逆境中的忍耐，都立足於天父藉著祂的兒子向我們啟示的永恆視角。
