(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)
I always come to the last day of Blogmas and think, “How did that go by so very quickly?”
Maybe you’re having that very same thought about 2025, or perhaps not. Either way, in the past, December 31st has seemed to be a rather sad day for me.
December always seems to disrupt the normalcy of life, more often than not with pleasant and joyful interruptions. There are Christmas parties to attend and/or host, cookies to bake, and Christmas gifts to wrap.
But then, suddenly, the end of December is here, and we are almost forced to examine where we are and what the past year has looked like.
Reflection is one of the most sacred things we can practice in life, but it is also one of the scariest things. What I have come to find is that there’s a quiet ache which enjoys settling in at the end of a year.
We are bombarded with messages that send us spiraling. You know, the ones that stare back at us through our screens… “New year means a new you” and “You better start strong or else you’ll fall behind.”
So often, reflection becomes self-punishment, but I don’t believe that reflection should ever be disguised as regret.
Because what do we typically do when we regret the year we are leaving behind?
We come up with these outlandish routines and goals for the new year that is approaching, which only work as long as no one is sick, the car never breaks down, everyone is happy and content, we have all the right ingredients at home for dinner, and we never need to sleep.
Anyone else have a couple of those outlandish goals sitting in your phone’s notes app currently?
Here’s the thing, I want to intentionally show up differently today…
I don’t want to just “move on” from Christmas. I want to live out its implications in 2026.
So, what is Biblically asked of us in 2026? Let’s look to Matthew 6:33 which says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
I’ve always been fascinated by this verse, as it doesn’t call us to pile on the goals and new year’s resolutions. We aren’t asked to do 100 things.
Nope. Just one.
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…”
It actually calls us to holy subtraction.
To eliminate, to do away with what does not matter. But why?
The answer seems far too simple: So that “all these things will be added to you.”
You see, the Lord has so much for you, there is so much He wants to do in your life in the new year, but He won’t be able to if you stuff it full before it even begins.
So, for just a minute, allow me to be the friend who will always tell you the truth of the matter…
You need to subtract. You need to simplify your new year’s resolutions. If you don’t, you’ll miss out on what God has for you in 2026, and if you miss that, nothing else you do will ever matter.
Holy subtraction is about faithfulness, formation, and fullness.
So tonight, as the clock counts down, I’m not asking you to reinvent yourself. I’m asking you to lay something down.
Lay down the need to prove. Release the pressure to perform. Let go of the lie that faithfulness must look impressive.
Step into 2026 lighter than you entered 2025. Not because you’ve figured everything out, but because you’ve decided who gets first place.
Seek first His Kingdom, and let Him handle the adding.
It’s the 31st of December, honey
Few more hours, figure out what we’re becoming
Do we ever finally arrive
Or do some things we just try and try and try?
This coming night’s a brand-new year
What if I wake up tomorrow and I still feel the same?
Still wonderin’ what I’m doin’ here
Still realizin’ that the only way to change is day-by-day
– Resolutions by Chris Renzema
The Few 
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