What are you going to resolve to do this year? Will it be lose some weight? Will it be to read the Bible through this year? Maybe you will resolve to have a better relationship with your mate. This is a New Year and it is not very old. But before you begin this year, did you make any resolutions last year? What were they and did you keep them? Many times we make a strong beginning but the ending is very weak concerning our resolutions. Let us consider how to succussed in our resolutions for the next year.
First make realistic goals. One of the problems with obtaining our goals is that they are not realistic. Let us say that you want to lose fifty pounds this next year. Have you lost weight last year? Did you gain weight? A person that wants to lose weight might first want to find out how many calories they are ingesting before setting a goal. You might want to reduce your calorie intake over a number of weeks in order to begin losing weight. Next one might want to consider how much exercise they are getting. This person might want to begin slowly in this area! If you are not walking five miles a day, you won’t succeed by starting out with five miles. Set small goals first then work up to the main goal. The same is true for spiritual goals.
Have you ever read the Bible through in a year? Do you know how much you will need to read each day to make it through the whole Bible in a year? The answer to that question might be what is important to you if you are going to try to read your Bible through in a year. But some may want to read it through in two years. Still the question is, how much do you need to read each day to read the Bible through in two years? There are helps at the back of some Bible that has this information. Some charts are for one year, some for two years and there are some for three years. The most important thing with reading your Bible through in a certain length of time is starting and continuing. Never, never, ever quit. It does not matter what the day is like or how you feel, read your Bible. You goal is to read the Bible through in a certain length of time, do not let things get in the way of obtaining that goal. Do not let people get in the way of your reading your Bible. Do not let vacations get in the way of reading the Bible. Read the amount assigned each and every day. It will not take long to have this habit so entrenched that you have to read your Bible. Your day will not have a good beginning if you do not read your Bible every day. You might need to set time aside when you want to read the Bible. You will need a pen and paper by your side as you read. Make notes as you are reading. Make notes to yourself that you want to find the meaning of a word or phrase when you are finished. There might be a topic that you want to study as a results of your reading, make a note of it and study that topic. This will help you in obtaining your goal of reading and studying your Bible.
One might have resolved to add the Christian Graces to their life. Do you know where they are? Do you know which book they are in? Do you know which chapter they are in? Do you know how many there are? When these questions have been answered the next level of success is that a person will make a list of them in big letter and attach them to the mirror so that this person will know which Christian Grace they are going to work on. Will you do one a week? Or one a day? Now one must make a conscience effort to work on it for the period of time allotted. But don’t forget it keep working on this one while you begin the other one. If one is going to work on faith, then what will one have to do to work on their faith? This might have to do with the goal of reading the Bible through in a year or two. It might have to do with a deeper study of God’s Will. Again the point is to begin and never, never ever give up. Do not let anything stop you from working on the Grace that you want to add to your life. Make the effort, it will be well worth the time.
Another goal one might have is to baptize so many people in a year. This scribe knows of a man who stated before others that he wanted the church where he was working to baptized fifty people. It was a noble goal. But it was unrealistic. When he was asked how many had the church baptized before he stated that, that did not matter. He thought and said that those who were questioning him about his goal were negative and trying to keep him from his goal. It was then stated to him that the goal of baptizing fifty people in a year was definitely a noble goal, but where he was working it would never be obtain. The church where with he was working had never gotten close to baptizing that many people in a year. This was pointed out, but he did not like it. When asked how many the church had baptized in years past, he stated the number then someone suggested many be a number of ten more might be a more appropriate goal. One man working one on one would have to be baptizing a person a week to make his first goal a reality. Not many churches are doing that let alone one person. So if you want to work on your soul saving skills this next year, that is a very noble goal and one that can be obtained. If each person in this congregation would work on their soul winning skills it might take several years but the church at Cleveland would double shortly. This might be just the courage to ask someone to come to worship with you. It might be the courage to ask someone to study the Bible with you. It might be working on stating things correctly. It might be working on the tone of one’s voice so as not to offend any one.
You might have goals as becoming a Bible school teacher or a song leader. These are noble goals and one that can be obtain, but begin correctly, never quit no matter what others say, and then continue to the end of your time. These hints will help you with making and keeping your New Years Resolutions.
Love, Keith
