New Year’s Day.

“December” comes from the Latin for “tenth month.” In 100 BC the twelfth month was February, and the first month was March. The new year began when spring did. But since the Roman calendar didn’t have leap years, over the centuries the first day of spring slid away from 1 March, and wound up on 20 March.

In 45 BC dictator Julius Caesar “reformed” the calendar, adding leap years so the solstices and equinoxes wouldn’t move around. He changed New Year’s Day from 1 March to 1 January—eight days after the winter solstice. And because the Roman calendar became Europe’s calendar—and the calendar of Europe’s colonies—it gradually became the world’s calendar. We celebrate the new year on 1 January because Caesar did.

Does 1 January have any other significance? Perhaps some religious significance? Nah. It’s a secular holiday.

This hasn’t stop Christians from trying to Christianize it. 1 January falls on the eighth day of Christmas, and if Jesus had actually been born on 25 December (and no of course he wasn’t) it’d be the day he was circumcised. Lk 2.21-39 Hence some Christians actually do celebrate it as the Feast of the Circumcision. In 1974, Pope Paul VI replaced that feast with the feast of the “Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God,” to discourage Roman Catholics from some of the weirder circumcision-based practices, which I won’t get into.

The rest of the Christians turn it into a time to contemplate God’s plans for the coming year. Many Christians spend New Year’s Eve praying for it, asking God for a good year and great things. Sometimes these prayer times get stretched into week-long or even month-long prayer times. Sometimes fasting is included. For many churches, the January fast, to “seek God’s face in the new year,” has become tradition.

A common secular custom is to make New Year’s resolutions: This year will be the one we eliminate bad habits, or take up good habits. Christians likewise make resolutions to be more religious. Sometimes churches start a bible-reading plan, a prayer group, exercise classes, or whatever. Many new ministries start in January.

Many new ministries also flounder in January. People regularly resolve to do or change too many things, do none of them well, and give up on all of them. I never recommend too many changes at once. Change things one step at a time. Keep your changes reasonable.

But by all means pray for the new year, and that God does amazing things in it.