What do you think it is that makes New Years Resolutions so enticing? What if we had May 18th resolutions? For some reason I don’t think half the people would be so anxious to have them! There’s something about being at the beginning of the year that make them what they are!

It reminds me of the feeling I get when I pull out my new calendar for the year. Just the other day, I threw out 2010 and filled in 2011. I pulled out my fine tipped sharpie and added in various appointments and vacations to the crisp calendar. It felt so, well, clean.

I took a few minutes and looked back at everything that transpired in 2010. My daughter’s first birthday. Our first family of 4 vacation. A funeral of a dear friend. However, 2010 was done. I had a brand new 2011 to fill in! I’ll never totally forget everything in 2010, but I was ready to press on to the new things in 2011!

We are all yearning for a clean slate. There’s something motivating about a new start. Maybe you think that THIS year is finally it!

Lose that weight.

Save more money.

Spend more time with the family.

It’s hope. It’s fulfillment. We can forget what’s behind us and press on towards what’s ahead.

God speaks to this a few times in His Word to us. He created us. He knows how we are wired and what we need to hear.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

And the verses that set this blog in motion also speak to it:

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3: 12-14

Let me leave you with this challenge. Don’t let January 1st only be the day you resolute to do something.

God did not say in any of these verses that the new thing had to happen on January 1st!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Did you catch that? EVERY MORNING!! We have a chance to start fresh every day. Join me as we press on together!