New year’s resolutions are interesting, especially when I hear family and friends say, new year new me. As if by saying these words everything will magically be different, but the reality is that it takes a lot of work to make significant changes in our lives. As a matter of fact, it takes great discipline to achieve those changes. This are the days when gyms are packed, people are going out for walks, or trying to do some kind of activity to better themselves physically, but after a few weeks the wheels will fall off for some, and a great majority will stop, and then next year they will commit to the same resolution and start all over again. But there is no magical formula to get instant results, it takes hard work and commitment, it’s a journey, it’s a lifestyle, in the same way our Christian life is a journey, it’s a lifestyle that is in constant grow, some of us may have made the resolution of reading the entire Bible this year, or to spend more time with God, and we may have a strong few weeks, but as the days and weeks go by, we may fall off from the plan, because it is hard to maintain that discipline, especially as we return to our regular routine from the holidays, and in many cases we lack the discipline to see it through.
This reminds me of the words of the Apostol Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
These words are fitting to us in this setting, that we also need to be like the athletes that run in the games, to train hard and have that discipline, though they work hard to win a crown that will not last, we are running for a crown that is imperishable.
This new year let’s run with purpose and not aimlessly, for us to make a commitment that will be significant, one that will bring transformation to our spiritual lives. To have the discipline to dominate our bodies, to do that which I don’t want to do, but I must do to strengthen my relationship with God. To run to win the crown that is imperishable.
May God bless this new year, the many resolutions we have made this year, and that if we start to drift from them, may we be reminded by these words from the Apostol Paul, to stay discipline, to train hard, to dominate our bodies, and to maintain our eyes on Jesus, least after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Pastor Luis.