The sun poked its head through the clouds and spread its golden rays over the Caribbean Sea as it greeted the first day of 2026. I watched its slow ascent from the comfort of my ocean-view balcony in Cancun and gave thanks to God. Of course, I was grateful to be in balmy Mexico on the first of January; but more than that, I was thankful for His faithfulness each day. In Genesis 8:22, He promises, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” The sun always comes up.
Now back in Tennessee, the icy fog obscures the sunrise, but I know it’s there. I’m bundled up by the fire and longing for my tee shirt-and-sandals time in Cancun last week. I remember touring the archeological site of Chichen Itza, a major religious and political Mayan city in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We also walked to the nearby sacred Cenote Sagrado, used for ritual offerings. Cenotes are natural sinkholes in the limestone bedrock, exposing pure, clear groundwater. With almost no rivers and only a few lakes in the Yucatan Peninsula, the cenotes are the only perennial source of potable water, so the Mayans built their cities around these natural wells.
I was impressed with the Mayan’s sophisticated and scientifically advanced society that flourished until the late 1600s. They developed a calendar that recorded lunar and solar cycles, eclipses and the movement of the planets with incredible accuracy. At the peak of their civilization, the population reached over 15 million, and their highly developed cities spread from southern Mexico to northern Central America.
They had a sophisticated writing system and were mathematical geniuses who developed the numerical concept of zero. Yet, alongside these accomplishments, they made human sacrifices for rain in the Cenote Sagrado and adopted the belief that the sun god needed a human sacrifice of blood to rise each morning.
How can people be so smart and so deceived at the same time?
God gives a clue and a warning in Romans 1:20-23. (I’m paraphrasing) Since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky…they can clearly see his eternal power and divine nature…but they thought up foolish ideas of what God was like. So their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
As brilliant as the Mayan people were, they became victims of their own intelligence and success, eventually leading to the collapse of their amazing civilization. It’s a story we see repeated throughout history: the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Roman Empire, and on and on.
Even today, we still sacrifice to the gods of our own creation. We worship money, success, intelligence—even playtime. We sacrifice our families, our peace, our time, our health, and our joy for the short-term rewards of convenience or the “good life.” Claiming to be wise, we foolishly turn our backs on God and choose to live life on our own terms. We may not ascend the 365 steps of a pyramid to offer blood sacrifices to the gods, but we do still climb up on our own self-made thrones. We reach the top and thump our chests in victory even though the triumph is temporary and, sooner or later, a collapse is coming.
As we move into a new year, it’s easy to look at our world and become discouraged. We are living in trying times, but God hasn’t forsaken us. Even though I may not see it, the sun continues to rise each day. In Lamentations 3:22-23, God also offers us hope. Now, I rarely turn to Lamentations for encouragement. It’s full of feelings of pessimism and despair, yet in the middle of the book, God makes this amazing promise: His mercy is new every morning.
When I watch a sunrise, I know I have a new beginning. Just as we make updated resolutions on January 1, we can look to Him for a fresh start each day. But unlike us, He won’t give up, get distracted, drop the ball, or make excuses.
Our glorious, life-giving God holds out His hand to lift us out of our troubles in the most remarkable way. He has climbed the steps, laid Himself on the altar, and instead of demanding our blood, He has shed His own blood to rescue us. Through His sacrifice, our debt is paid, and we now have access to freedom, righteousness, peace, health, acceptance, joy, redemption, genuine love, eternal life, and a new beginning. His blood seals His promise to us—forever.
All we have to do is give up the idols we have worshiped and make Him our Lord and Savior.
There’s a new day dawning.
We can start fresh in 2026.
The choice is ours.
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