Dan Eakin
Back in the 1930s, a controversial minister named Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote a book titled, “The Power to See It Through.”
Although I disagreed with a lot of his theology, I found that book to be very accurate and inspiring.
He said a lot of people have starting power, but do not have staying power.
That is especially true around the first of each year.
A lot of us make New Year’s resolutions. To lose weight. To save money. To quit smoking or drinking, and so on.
It has been said that most New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first few weeks.
Probably some tips on keeping a New Year’s resolution would be:
1. Make practical resolutions. Don’t resolve that you are going to lose 100 pounds or make a million dollars in 2017.
2. Share your resolution with at least one other friend or relative. The fact that you have shared it with someone else will help you to keep it.
3. Have a plan as to how you will keep your resolution. If you are going to lose weight, choose a diet you feel you can follow. If you are going to quit smoking, choose a gum or a patch that will help you.If you are going to save money, make out a budget and stick to it. Consider taking on a second part time job. Look at what you have been spending money on and see what you can eliminate.
In some cases, you may need to choose new friends in order to keep your resolution.’
For example, if your problem is drinking, you may have to make friends with people who don’t drink and then spend less time or no time with those who do.
As a Christian, you may want to resolve to read your Bible every day. If you haven’t been doing so, maybe you should start out by reading only one chapter, or even just a few verses each day. The Psalms could be a good place to start. Just a Psalm a day until you have read all 150. Or you may want to start out by reading the New Testament. Maybe a chapter a day.
If you haven’t been praying every day, certainly that would be a great New Year’s resolution. Some people have their time with the Lord, reading their Bible and praying, in the morning. If you are not a morning person, maybe it would be better to end the day by reading a few verses, thanking the Lord for the blessings of the day and talking to him about your needs and the needs of others.
Another good resolution for a Christian is to resolve to be in God’s House (church) on God’s Day (Sunday) every week in 2017. Some of you who read this have dropped out of church in recent years. You are missing the blessing of publicly worshiping the Lord with other believers. For whatever reason you dropped out, get over it and get back in church, and the Lord will bless you.
Even though most resolutions wind up being broken, let me encourage you to make some kind of resolutions for the coming year.
Everybody should set goals. To not have goals is like a football field without goal lines. Even if you fall short of your goal, you still will likely be a better person for having set the goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds, and you only lose 10, the goal was still worth setting. If you resolve to read the New Testament through this year, but you only get through half of it, it was still a goal worth setting.
Of course, to totally reach your goal, or to totally keep your resolution would be the greatest reason of all to celebrate.
Let me encourage you to make resolutions. Set goals. And may you have the power to see it through!
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:13, 14