It's That Time Again

Another year has flown by!  I can sometimes hardly believe how quickly time passes!  But here we are again at the end of another year, and it's that time again.....time for New Year's Resolutions.  You know what I mean.....those ridiculous promises you make to yourself at this time every year.  Things like "I will lose 50 pounds by Friday" or "I will never allow anything chocolate to pass my lips ever again" or some other equally unattainable promise that will be broken by Tuesday.

Well, here's a news flash for you.  I don't do New Year's Resolutions!  I gave up on that a while ago.  Maybe it's a mark of maturity (??!!!!), but I finally came to the conclusion that setting myself up for failure by making promises to myself that I knew I couldn't or wouldn't keep wasn't helping me - or anybody around me, for that matter!  So, it has been my practice in recent years to set some goals for the new year, to determine a way to be accountable about those goals, and to have benchmarks that I can check periodically to mark my progress.  Maybe you do the same.  If not, it's a practice you might want to consider.

As an example, it has been my practice for quite a while now to read the Bible through each year.  (Please understand, I'm not making commentary or judgment on you if you don't do this; I'm just telling you what I do, although it is definitely a practice I recommend.)  As each year winds to a close, I'm evaluating how I did on the plan I used for the year, deciding if I want to continue the same reading plan or use a different one, determining which translation I will use for the coming year, how I will be accountable, and - perhaps most importantly - evaluating what I learned, what I gained, from the practice in the past year.

For this coming year, I have set my Bible reading goals, decided on a Bible study plan (which is different from Bible-reading), and also set goals in other areas of my life.  My health, for example.  Because high blood pressure is a fact of my life, I am purposing to do a better job of monitoring my blood pressure readings and to making better diet and exercise choices to help keep my blood pressure under control.  I have devised a tracking system to check my progress(because that's how I roll!!!).

You see, no matter what goals I set, no matter what resolutions I make or don't make, no matter what others do or don't do, no matter who is elected President or what happens to the economy.......life is not about me.  Or you.  It's all about Jesus!

".....my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death."  (Philippians 1:20 NKJV).