We have entered another period known as a year, and the usual process every year is to begin the new year better than the last. Many of us look back at the previous year and try to put its mistakes and missteps behind by resolving to change the things that caused us to fall short. We call them new year’s resolutions. Is this a meaningful or useful exercise? Does it produce results or are we just going through a ritual?
How did you do last year with your resolutions?
Before speaking for anyone else, I must say that I take annual resolutions seriously and make every attempt to make the new year better than the last. I find the process very helpful because it causes me to pause, review what happened and identify what I can do to have a better year. I have learned over the years to refine the process so that instead of setting unrealistic goals I focus in on priorities and what is achievable.
Earth has time markers that allow us to separate time and thereby quantify and qualify its segments. According to the Bible, God has no time markers. There is no day and night in heaven; no darkness, just one eternal light that illuminates everything so there is no need for counting or review. One scripture indicates that God’s time is so different that what we consider as 1,000 years could be considered a day in heaven and what we consider a day could be considered 1,000 years, because his time is different than our time and he does not live according to our concepts of time. If you are both beginning and ending, alpha and omega then the concept of beginning and end does not apply.
For me, I use time to evaluate, plan and set goals understanding that very few if anyone ever achieves 100 percent success. I am not expecting perfection – I am expecting improvement. In reviewing the previous 365 days, my first question is what did I get right. Whatever I did right, I know what to hold onto. The next question is what I did [do] wrong? Once this question is answered, I know what to let go of.
The following are some of the changes I have made over the years through resolutions, as well as some of my failures: A few years ago, I resolved to write three books – and sure enough, I wrote and published three books because it was a goal that I set and reminded myself of. I decided to exercise at least four times a week – unfortunately, I did not meet the second goal, so I carry it over into the new year because it is a very important goal, particularly as I get older.
My resolution this year is to be more consistent with my exercise schedule. What are your plans and goals?
Whatever your plans and goals, remember that he who fails to plan, plans to fail. It may seem corny or trite, but this annual exercise is very important to our annual success. I recommend that you not dismiss it but take advantage of this new opportunity to achieve what you failed to achieve previously. This year is particularly important because we begin planning in an environment unlike any we have seen in most of our lifetime. We are actually planning in a pandemic that is full of uncertainty.
Will there be a cure?
Will we be on lockdown?
Will we lose loved ones?
When will things get back to normal?
These are important questions for 2021 and no one knows the full answers; so we have to trust God in the things we don’t know and thank Him in the things we do know.
As you reflect, remember to be grateful. Remember those that were not fortunate enough to make it into 2021 and consider yourself blessed to be here. Do everything in your power to stay here. Make the right decisions, the best decisions you can make. In spite of all that is going on it’s still a beautiful world and a beautiful life. I do not take it for granted for a moment. Remember to enjoy the things you have until you get the things you want. Some of us are so consumed by what we do not have, that we forget what we do. Treasure your friends, your job, your church, your social group. If there is something wrong with any of them, the new year is the opportunity to rearrange and re-prioritize.
As for me, at the top of my agenda every year are the simple words that Jesus spoke, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”. I will put God first, prioritize His agenda in my life and I’m willing to live with the results from there. It’s what has brought me this far.
• Pastor Dave Burrows is senior pastor at Bahamas Faith Ministries International. Feel free to email comments, whether you agree or disagree, to pastordaveburrows@hotmail.com. I appreciate your input and dialogue. We become better when we discuss, examine and exchange.
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