It's that time again! We are only a couple of days away from the beginning of a new year. And not only a new year, but a new decade! Soon we will take the old calendar off the wall and hang a fresh new one. We will have fresh clean pages in the planner. It's time for a fresh start.
I don't know about you, but it seems to me that 2019 just flew by! In fact, I think this last decade has flown by! Maybe it's a sign of getting older, but I can sometimes hardly believe how quickly time passes. Yet here we are again at the beginning of another year, and it's that time again - time for New Year's Resolutions. You know what I mean. We have convinced ourselves we need to make those ridiculous promises, the ones we make every year but never keep. 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 before a week has passed.
Have you ever noticed how resolutions are often vague? I need to do better. I need to lose some weight. I need to spend less money. I need to read my Bible more. With all that vagueness, how can we ever know whether or not we have actually accomplished anything?
That's why I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions. Instead, 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. That works much better for me than those pesky soon-to-be-forgotten resolutions.
Over these remaining days of 2019, I'm reflecting on the past year. I did pretty well in some areas and not quite so well in others. I made great strides in my stroke recovery in 2019, and I am so thankful to God for that. In these next few days, I'm doing a lot of pondering. I'm thinking about what I learned about God this year. About ways my faith has grown. About how disciplined (or not!) I have been in my Bible study. I'm pondering what God has done in my life this last year. And, to borrow a phrase from a familiar hymn, I'm pondering anew what the Almighty can do.
A new year brings fresh opportunities to see God at work. To grow in my faith. To "discipline (myself) for the purpose of godliness." (1 Timothy 4:7)
One of my goals for the new year is keeping a more detailed prayer journal, writing down not only a list of things to pray about and the answers I receive, but writing down my prayers as well. Because writing helps me stay focused. And particularly in my post-stroke life, writing helps me remember. I have goals in other areas of my life as well. Healthy eating. More exercise. Reaching my goal weight. New writing projects.
I have set my goals and made a plan, because having a plan helps me stay focused. My plans are written down, because writing helps me remember.
What about you? Have you thought about goals and plans for the new year? Having a plan in place, especially in the area of Bible reading, helps you stay focused. If you don't have a plan, there are a number of good plans available. I encourage you to read Scripture each day. Don't limit yourself to reading a devotional book. Read directly from God's Word. Read what God has to say, not just what others have written about it.
One of my favorite devotional books over the years as been My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Year after year I return to this book. And year after year, as a new year begins, I am drawn to this particular passage of Scripture, the passage with which Chambers begins the year:
".....my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:20 NASB)
Beyond all the goals and resolutions and plans and dreams, this is the one that matters most. That Christ be exalted. That is my earnest expectation and hope. To honor Him in all I do. In all I say. In all I am.
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