A New Year: What To Do With It?

A new year! 2009.

Why is it that the New Year always seems to bring out the desire to establish new resolutions? New goals? The end of the old and the beginning of the new year cause many of us to reflect on how we lived out the last 12 months and we see areas for improvement. Generally speaking, our New Years resolutions last just a little longer than it took to make our list. A few actually keep theirs for two or three months!

Now, I'm not going to share my New Year resoluations with you. One of you might actually ask in a couple of months how I am doing with them!

There is one area though that I would like to work on that I will share here -- I want to get to know God better in 2009.

I used to work in a Christian bookstore. During the 10 years I worked there I noticed that most Christians (about 75%) bought fiction, self-help books, feel-good books and books about finances. Comparatively few bought books that would help them grow as Christians or help them grow in their relationship with God. From what I observe now, little has changed in the Christian community with which I have contact.

In today's devotional reading from the Everyday With Jesus Bible Holman Christian Standard), Selwyn Hughes wrote about this issue. It isn't that "these subjects are unimportant," he says, "but they are explored in a self-absorbed way that gives the idea that the most important thing in life is knowing ourselves better. It isn't. The most important thing in life is knowing God better."

He adds, "I tell you with all the conviction of which I am capable: if God is not our primary focus, then everything else will soon get out of focus." I can certainly testify that this is true. Everytime I get my focus on my life, my problems or events around me, it is only a matter of time before my joy and peace are gone. These other things loom huge, and God seems more distant and impotent. But if my focus stays on God and getting to know His character and ways better, then my life, my problems and even the events going on in the world all fall into place.

This year I want to get to know God--His nature and His ways--better.

And yes, you can hold me accountable as to how I'm doing in the process.