God and New Year Resolutions by Catherine Castle

 

A couple across the row from me was loading groceries into their vehicle in my local Kroger’s parking lot at 6 p.m. January 2^nd and I heard this:

“Well, we’ve already broken our New Year’s resolution about pop and junk food.”

 I glanced over in time to see the gentleman setting several cases of soda into the back seat. Their resolution lasted about 30 hours. I wouldn’t call that the fastest breaking time for a resolution, but it ranks close to the top.

 This is one of the reasons I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I break them almost as fast as the couple at Krogers. Sure, I’d like to have the resolve to exercise daily, not eat anything bad for me—ever, clean the house weekly, empty the dishwasher as soon as it stops, do the laundry before it piles up as tall as me, save up a million dollars, clean out the closets and the medicine cabinets, lose weight until I’m back at my high school weight, give up chocolate, finish all those UFO crafts floating around in the basement, clean the old stuff out of the file drawers (some is so old the paper has yellowed.) My hubby wants me to turn it ALL into digital files. Like I can find the time to do that! And I haven’t even mentioned the writing things that need to be done. If I listed all the things I needed to change or resolve to do in my everyday life, the list would go on forever.

 It’s no wonder we break resolutions as fast as we can make them. The stuff we need and want to do can be overwhelming.

 But is all that resolution stuff really important?

 As I thought about this, I wondered what God’s word has to tell us about resolutions. I know He wants me to be resolute in my faith, but does God care about how resolute I am in my everyday life? Does my list, or lack thereof, of New Year’s resolutions matter to him?

 I dug into my Bible resources looking for an answer. Although I couldn’t find any direct commandments about New Year resolutions (I don’t think they existed in Bible times), I did come up with four interesting commandments about faith I believe can be applied to New Year resolutions to make them more successful.

·       Following through on your resolutions requires preparation.  “Therefore prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:13 NIV

·       To succeed you must get rid of obstacles. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 NIV

·       You’ll only get back what you put into the job. “He who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” 2 Corinthians. 9:6 NIV

·       Being resolute helps us grow stronger. “… the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.” Job 17:9 NIV

·       Persistence pays off. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians  6:9 NIV

 

I’m not certain God cares one way or the other about my New Year’s resolution list—unless I’m directly disobeying his commandments. What I do know, after searching His word, is He has provided guidance to conquer that list should I decide to tackle it—next year.

 

What about you? Do you make New Year Resolutions?

 

About the author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon.