It's that time again! As this day comes to an end and tomorrow begins, we mark the beginning of a new year. Time to take the old calendar off the wall and hang a fresh new one. Time for fresh clean pages in the planner. Time for a fresh start.
I don't know about you, but it seems to me that 2014 just flew 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 end of another year, and it's that time again - time for New Year's Resolutions. You know what I mean. It's time to make those ridiculous promises that we make 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 before next 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! And besides, resolutions always seem so 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?
And that's why I stopped making 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.
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 evaluate how I did on the plan I used for the year, decide if I want to continue the same reading plan or use a different one, determine which translation I will use for the coming year, how I will be accountable, and - perhaps most importantly - evaluate what I learned, what I gained, from the practice in the past year.
Since I liked the plan I used for 2014 (a plan called "Eat This Book" from www.youversion.com, which included a daily reading from the Psalms along with reading straight through the Bible), I have decided to follow that plan again in 2015. The one change I have decided on is to read in the coming year from a different translation. I read from the ESV in 2014, so 2015 will find me back in the NASB. In addition, as I'm reading, I'm focusing on two words this year: worship and wait. As I read, I'll be looking for those words and what the Word has to teach me about them. And I have a fresh new notebook ready so I can write down what I learn. Writing it down helps me remember.
As we head into the new year, I have set my Bible reading goals, and have also decided on a Bible study plan (which is different from Bible-reading). Since living where I live makes joining a weekly Bible study group in person something of a challenge, particularly in winter, I'm joining with an on-line group. Several years ago I set a goal to begin at the beginning and study, book by book, until I reach the end. Although I have gotten sidetracked from this plan on several occasions, it remains a goal, and so I'm very excited and determined as I begin inductively studying Genesis as we begin the new year. Yes, I have inductively studied Genesis before. Several times, in fact. But since it is my goal to start at the beginning and go straight through to the end, I'm beginning again at the beginning! If you're interested in learning more, visit www.logosjourney.com.
I have set goals in other areas of my life as well. Healthy eating. A plan for more exercise. Decluttering the house. New writing projects.
And as this year winds down and a new one begins in just a few hours, I'm drawn once again to the book of Philippians as I formulate my goals and plans for the new year. Drawn back to this verse that sums it all up:
".....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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