With 2024 now consigned to the history books, we are launching into 2025. Inevitably, a new year tends to bring at least a small burst of new energy. 

Externally, we may joke about others joining gyms and going through the standard routine of resolution and then inevitable failure. However, we may still feel motivated internally to start the year well. 

So, what is your approach to the new year?

I think we often look for sophisticated solutions to complicated problems.  Are we trying to be too clever? 

In reality, the basics are usually the most fruitful focus.

For instance, we assume that taking a new and obscure supplement or getting a new piece of exercise equipment will help us achieve our health goals.

But we will probably accomplish a lot more by focusing on eating whole foods, moving more, and sleeping better.

Or, we can think that our ministry challenges will be unlocked by a key lesson we have never encountered before, so we hunt for the book or the seminar that will bring that critical insight. 

But 2025 will be far more fruitful if we focus on hearing from God, praying, and investing in people.  These things are the basic stuff of ministry.

And what about on a personal level?  I think we would all benefit from a “back to basics” mindset as we launch into another new year:

Relationally

It is really about time.  Spend time with your spouse, children, and key friends (and there may be some other meaningful relationships, perhaps your parents). 

The world is continuing to bombard us with time-saving technology that seems to suck all time away from meaningful relationships, so make the deliberate and courageously counter-cultural step of going for a walk with your spouse, getting on the floor to have fun with your child, taking your teen out for lunch, or sharing some downtime with a friend. 

If necessary, turn your phone off too, this “appointment” may be the most important in your day.

Theologically

A few years ago, I wrote the book Foundations. I looked at the apostles’ speeches in Acts.  I demonstrated how their first concerns were to answer foundational questions rather than to impress their listeners with sophisticated complexity. 

I am more convinced than ever that our theological energy is best spent chasing four basic questions: what is God like?  What does it mean to be human?  What is our problem? What is God’s solution to our problem? 

As we prayerfully pursue better answers to these basic root questions, we will find abundant fruit all over the tree of our lives.

Spiritually

And if your spiritual health is critical for all aspects of your ministry in the home and beyond, what would a “back to basics” approach look like? It isn’t complicated. 

Surely it means hearing from God by being in the Word, speaking to God in prayer, responding to God in worship, and ensuring you invest in authentic and life-giving relationships with other believers, too.

Every year, in the UK, we have to take our cars for the annual “health check” required of every vehicle on the road.  We occasionally get a token physical “health check” from our medical system. 

Why not take the New Year as an opportunity to take stock of the basics of life?  It may not seem very sophisticated or feel particularly clever.  Still, actually, it is the basic changes that bear the most fruit.

Peter Mead is mentor at Cor Deo and author of several books. He blogs at Biblical Preaching.