Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Ezekiel 18:30-2, NIV (1978)

I love the New Year! It seems that everything is fresh and brand new and almost anything is possible. I think everyone enjoys a fresh start and I believe that is the reason that New Year's resolutions are so popular. The problem with such resolutions is that they are often lightly made. Everyone would like to change things for the better, but few are willing to put in the work required for big changes, so they rarely happen. What is that old saying that goes something along the lines of promises that are lightly made are easily broken? I believe that is what most of us do when we make New Year's resolutions. They often are comprised more of a wish than a resolve, so they are quickly forgotten.

I guess that's okay if the resolution is something that is relatively unimportant, but the unimportant things probably didn't require something with the official designation of "resolution" in the first place. On the other hand, there are some things that are definitely vital enough to our lives and well being for such a determination. Such is the topic of today's article.

Let me start with this question: Do you think that God is pleased with the type of service that you have offered in the past year? Now, don't be too hard on yourself, for if you have been making steady progress in becoming a better servant of God, then you are probably doing better than you think. In any great undertaking, be it the building of bridges, the performance of brain surgery, or going to the moon in a rocket ship, there is always a great deal of training that is required. You don't become proficient at anything without a great deal of effort, and all such efforts have a beginning point. And, just as nobody I know of has become an engineer, a doctor, or an astronaut by accident, you and I will never just "wake up" someday and find that we are good and faithful servants to our Lord. Such great endeavors do require commitment and will require resolve on our part, so...

If you are truly committed to the worthy goal of becoming a better Christian this year, then by all means go ahead and make that resolution. Having done so, follow through on that commitment by praying more, by reading your Bible more, and by helping others more. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you should be seeking to be as perfect as you can. Further more, you don't have to devote all of your time to prayer and study and doing for others. You just need to do a little more and be more efficient with what you realistically have the time to do.

Does this sound too easy? For those who have already begun, you know that it is anything but easy. But you also know that anything that is excellent is worthy of excellent effort. So, by all means, make that resolve to be a more faithful servant of God this year. But, having made that resolve, make sure that you do it. It will be difficult some days, but you will not be disappointed. After all, we are not just trying to reach the moon, we are trying by the grace of God to reach Heaven. And such a lofty goal is worthy of excellent effort, don't you think? In short, you can get that new heart and that new soul, but you will have to be willing to change what you have been doing and put in the effort that such magnificent things as these require. You can do it, with the help of God!