It's time!
Are you ready?
Cue up the theme song from Rocky!
Of course I am talking about…NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS.
As I’m writing this, two feelings strike me. First, I’m amused. I’m amused remembering all those resolutions I have made in the past and gave up all too quickly. Years ago I heard one of my heroes in the ministry, Rev. Joe Green, preach a sermon near the end of January. To paraphrase, I remember Joe said, ‘this year my New Year’s resolution is to lose 70 pounds, now I only have 82 pounds to go.’ I laugh every-time I think about that because I can relate. It sure can be hard to make changes.
Having said that, there is another feeling that strikes me… excitement. Honestly, the idea of a new start is invigorating. Even though we have all had times when we didn’t live into our goals, there are those other times when we have and perhaps this is our year! Think of how great it feels to set our mind to something and actually complete that which we set out to do. That excitement might be motivation enough to get us halfway to our goals this year!
What if this is our year to really do something new and experience more of what God desires for us…wholeness and abundance and joy and purpose and the life that really is life. Its one of my favorite verses that I frequently use in campus ministry is 1 Timothy 6:18-19 which says…
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
Perhaps our New Year’s resolutions are really about laying a good foundation. Visioning and making a plan and working to take small steps is absolutely vital to any kind of lasting change. This is how we lay a good foundation for the future. So here is the really big question… what is your vision for your life? What is God’s vision for your life? What are a couple of goals you have and how can you make a plan to begin laying a foundation for this to occur? Small steps can lead us to very new places.
I remember one time visiting a church with a friend and we were in awe of the things we witnessed that church doing. They had some dynamic ministries happening, had made great improvements to their facilities, and were serving their community in some really impressive ways. My friend said, ‘how in the world did they do all this?’ Somebody there with some knowledge of the situation said, ‘Much of this has been about a 10 year process. It came from a lot of visioning and conversations and planning and setbacks and persistence.’ It occurred to me then how important it is to set goals and to try to plow through and make them a reality. We never get everything we want, but we might be amazed at what happens when we take just some small steps.
My wife Margaret and I a few years ago were made aware at New Year’s that there are 260 weekdays in a year and that there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. So when we learned this we put together some reading plans and encouraged the church we were serving at the time to check off each chapter as they read. Reading one chapter of scripture a day is pretty easy, usually takes less than 5 minutes. One of the neat things for me was around New Year’s the next year I received a text message from a young guy who told me he had received one of those reading plans. And that he had kept it on his desk at work and everyday he read his one chapter. He told me he had always struggled reading the Bible, but that this really worked for him and that he had now read the entire New Testament. A small amount of time everyday had made a big difference in his life. Perhaps this is a resolution for us to consider this year, 260 chapters, 260 weekdays.
Regardless of what New Year’s resolutions, if any, you choose to make, I pray for you who are reading this now. I pray that in 2022 you may experience God’s love and live into the truth that you are a beautiful precious child of God. Amen.