January 1 always carries a quiet question: What does “new” really mean? A new year gives us another beginning—but not a blank slate. We do not start from zero; we start from experience. The past 365 days have shaped us: through success and failure, clarity and confusion, joy and loss. Newness, then, is not denial of the past, but an invitation to step forward differently. In everyday language, we speak of new starts, new habits, new energy. In Scripture, the word “new” goes d