Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A New Year - A Daily Resolution

The start of a new year is always exiting for me. I always look forward to seeing what the year holds for me - what kind of challenges I'll face, what kind of opportunities will come my way, what kind of new friendships will develop. And it can sometimes be exciting to think of "starting over" - a new year to get back on track - with whatever it is you're struggling with. That's why 'new year's resolutions' are so popular.

Resolutions, in my opinion, are good to have - especially if you can stick with them. It takes motivation and determination to stick with a goal and make it part of your life - and those are great characteristics to have. In fact, those are the kind of character traits we need to have as Christians.

As you may have made some resolutions at the start of this new year, whatever they may be, let me encourage you to add one more to the list - if it isn't already on there. Plain and simply, we need to draw closer to God and make sure He's the top priority in our life. In fact, we shouldn't just make this a "new year's resolution" - how about a "new day resolution!" Everyday that we wake up, we should make the decision to put God first in our life and live according to His Word. This is one resolution we can't let fizzle out...

It's extremely easy to let our own selfishness get in the way of putting God first. We start to make sacrifices with our time. If there's something we want to do or accomplish - we tend to put everything else on the back burner. As I said earlier, it's great to have goals and make new year's resolutions - but we CANNOT let these goals and ambitions get in the way of serving our God. Remember, Jesus told us to "Seek first the Kingdom of God - and all His righteousness..." (Matt 6:33). Likewise, Paul told us to not set our minds on things here - but on the things above. (Romans 8:5).

As we start 2011, we obviously want to make it a great year. And it DEFINITELY will be if God is the top priority in our life. Let us remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul." Let us have this mindset and practice this love for God on a daily basis.

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