My New Year's resolution is to not make any New year's resolutions. See, I have already broken one. It is amazing how the mindset of a person can change from December 31, to January 1. Even though it is only one day, it is a new year and that greets us with promise, excitement and forgiveness. That is why so many people decide at the beginning of the year that they will join a gym.
So you get a membership, go a few times, and maybe even get a new outfit (or workout clothes for you men). You are all stoked because when summer arrives, you will have that beach body and be the envy of all those who have watched you go from flab to fab. You set goals, make a plan and even tell your family that you are not ever eating hamburgers again. Then it is time to actually GO to the gym.
The first day goes ok. You are a little sore and out of shape, but that is to be expected. After all
Rome was not built in a day right? You are proud of yourself for passing up on the donuts for breakfast and have a salad for lunch. This is going to be a piece of cake. That is until you see the piece of cake. The next thing you know you have already gone through the drive thru and ordered a number two super sized with a bladder busting soda (I don't know this personally. I am just repeating someone else's story). The next thing you know you are trying to avoid seeing the trainer you hired, speeding past the gym, and don't even know where you put that new outfit (workout stuff).
The same is true with our relationship with God. We decide that today is the day that I get my life back on track. We find our Bible, join a church, and even get us a new outfit (church clothes). We feel good about our new decision and our new devotion book we picked up. But as time goes by, life sets in, and it seems like your new found life has taken a back seat to the same old life you have always lived.
God desires more from us. Luke 9:23 says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (NKJV) That means that we must let go of our own wants and desires, start lifting daily and follow after our trainer Jesus Christ. Notice that we are to do this daily and not just on days when the church doors are open. Many of us want to follow after Christ but when it comes to picking up our cross daily, we fall short. Don't just try to think of what you will look like in a year from now, just give tomorrow a try. The next thing you know, you will be living like a follower of Jesus, pumped up and ready to take on the world for Him.
So make a plan. Start today. Take it one day at a time. If not, there is always next year. January 1st can't be that far away.
