It's that time of year - New Year Resolutions.
Lose weight. Read books. Be better this year.
The beauty of a new year is that it provides a mental point of before and after. A point of ending and beginning. We can close out the ledger of success and failure for the previous year; and all those incomplete hopes and dreams can be born again. While there is value in reflecting on the past, there is fuel for success to be found in the future. The Apostle Paul stated it this way in his letter to the Philippians: "Straining toward what is ahead, I press towards the goal." (Phil. 3:13,14) There is a work to be done; and work requires effort. Paul simply states that he must strain and press towards the future. If he hopes to achieve his goals, there will be challenge and obstacles, and it will require his determination to see them completed.
What was left behind in 2019 that you want to pick up again? Goals, tasks, achievements that were never completed? People you did not speak with, or left in a state of anger? Whatever you did not finish in past, you can raise the banner again in 2020. Determine a destination and strain to get started and press towards your dream. In all of this, know that there is no greater goal, no more complete a satisfaction than knowing Christ more. From this truth all others things can flow. Happiness, joy, love, contentment, and more come from the pleasure of knowing Jesus more. In the end, no matter the dream, no matter, the hope, no matter the goal, we would mark it as a great year if we ended 2020 with more love, happiness, joy and contentment.
To aid us in our journey, I offer this song - an 18th Century hymn with truth that still rings clear today:
I Am Resolved
I am resolved no longer to linger,
charmed by the world's delight;
things that are higher, things that are nobler,
these have allured my sight.
I will hasten to Him,
hasten so glad and free;
Jesus, greatest, highest,
I will come to Thee.
I am resolved to go to the Savior,
leaving my sin and strife;
He is the true one; He is the just one,
He has the words of life.
I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay;
taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
we'll walk the heavenly way.
God bless you this year!
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