New Year’s Resolutions. Exercise. Lose weight. Eat healthier. Spend more time with family. Spend less. Save more. Enjoy life to the fullest. Almost half of Americans make them, but according to history.com, only 8% actually achieve their goals throughout the year. Smart phones even have apps to help you keep track of your resolutions!
Personally, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I think if God puts it on my heart to make a change, I should seize the day – carpe diem! Instead of waiting for a convenient time like the beginning of a new year to implement better habits, I want to obey God right away. Luke 11:28 says, “But He [Jesus] said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it.”
We don’t know what tomorrow might hold. Proverbs 27:1 says, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Why put off obeying God when we don’t know if we’ll get the chance later? When we meet Him face to face, He will hold us accountable for our choices. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). When that day comes, I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
God cannot be separated from any aspect of life. He cares about how we treat our physical bodies, our finances, our time, and the people around us. “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (I Corinthians 15:28). Either He is glorified by our choices, or not.
But we’re human; there is no escaping the fact that we all fall short (Romans 3:23). Sometimes we even fall short intentionally. In II Chronicles 7:14, God tells us, “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Praise the Lord that His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and that Christ’s “grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9)!
So if God is calling you to make a change in your life, carpe diem – seize the day! “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:13).
Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff