The New Year offers a chance for a new beginning. It is anticipated with a sense of holiday and celebration, of resolutions, commitments, and an opportunity for change.
Even if we don’t celebrate by staying up to ring in the year or make resolutions, changing the calendar from one year to another brings a sense of hope that springs from a chance to begin anew.
The five most common resolutions made illustrate the hope for change, leading to a better life. They are to (1) loose weight, (2) quit smoking, (3) get/stay fit and healthy, (4) learn a new skill, and (5) earn more and/or spend less.
Those worthy goals could lead to a better quality of life. That is, they could if the goal is pursued beyond the five-week to three-month follow-through of most resolutions. (Statistics indicate that only 14% to 20% of people who make resolutions meet their goals.)
However, notice that those resolutions deal with external things. None of them deal directly with the heart and soul, the inner man. None consider relationships or internal growth and development.
Don’t get me wrong. The health of our body is important. In fact, I’m purposing to work on that myself, but the fitness of our inner man and relationships has an even greater impact on our quality of life. It seems we’re pursuing the wrong goals.
If we hope for a better tomorrow, the best place to start is with our relationship with God. If we are obedient to Him and His ways, He will bless us in other areas of our lives, (He promised; read Deuteronomy 28.)
If we trust in Him, He will give us grace for trials that come and will also help us with the disciplines we need to establish.
Do you hope for a better life in 2017? Jesus is the answer.
Having a rich relationship with the Lord lays a foundation and provides strength for anything and everything we face in life. It’s also a key for building healthy relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. With God and friends supporting us, other hurdles are much less daunting.
A few suggestions for pursuing that goal are:
- Seek to know the Lord better. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
- Read His Word and listen for Him to speak to you.
- Share your joys and struggles with Him.
- Develop friendships with others who are seeking God
- Seek (and keep on seeking, according to the verb tense of the Greek) and you will find Him.
I have one other suggestion to better know God, comprehend the Bible, and better understand the nature of the relationship He desires with us. I recommend reading The Great Exchange: Bound by Blood to begin your year.
I grew up in a Christian family and went to church three times a week most of my earlier life. I was not only active in church, but was a leader, even as a teen. But more than 10 years after becoming a Christian, the lights came on for me when I learned about the ancient ritual of cutting a blood covenant and how it is central to the Bible.
It exploded my knowledge of God. My faith was quickened by understanding the symbolism in the covenant God cut with Abraham. I discovered the same covenant ritual and symbolism in Jesus’ death. I want the same for you.
Furthermore, I saw that David’s faith and courage to face Goliath clearly came from his understanding and knowledge that he had a covenant-keeping God. Covenant is about relationship and it defines the relationship God chose to form with us. Without understanding the steps of the ancient ritual, we miss much of what the Bible has to say and of who we are in God.
I hope you will seek to know God better in 2017—and that you’ll order a copy of The Great Exchange: Bound by Blood. You can get it wherever books are sold, on this site, at Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, or almost any place books are sold.
I wish you a Happy New Year. But, more than that, I wish you a better tomorrow through the blessing of a deeper and richer relationship with the Lord.
“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put My name on the children of Israel (the children of covenant), and I will bless them” (Num. 6:24-27).