New Year’s Resolutions
January is a time of renewed commitment and resolutions. Each year millions of people promise themselves that they will lose weight, travel more, quit smoking, fix the shed, learn French or pursue some other equally noble goal. In the weeks following New Year’s Day we often ask one another, “What’s your resolution for the new year?” And all too often the question is met with something like the following: “Well, I made a resolution, but…” Firm commitments made at the beginning of January have a disappointing way of fizzling out by the month’s end. And thus our waistlines continue to bulge, cigarettes still appear on our shopping lists, and those French tapes will have to wait until next year.
Perhaps one of the reasons that our New Year’s resolutions so commonly fail is because they tend to focus on relatively trivial matters. Sure, finally visiting the Grand Canyon is a great goal, but is it the greatest goal? Perhaps our dedication to change would benefit from a desire to change not merely our appearances or even our lifestyles but our very selves, that indivisible core of our personal identity: our souls. Perhaps this year we ought to resolve to reconnect with our God through prayer. Maybe it’s time to give that dusty Bible hidden away on the book shelf another look. Maybe it’s time to get reacquainted with a pew at your local church.
Of course, the benefits of a robust connection with the Lord, greater Biblical literacy, and meaningful involvement in a community of faith don’t lend themselves to bragging quite as easily as a newly painted shed (though, sadly, some have tried). But while immaculate lawns and healthy lungs eventually surrender to the inevitability of time, the rewards of a genuine relationship with God are a bit longer lasting.