Each New Year often begins with a wave of optimism: out with old, in with the new … this time around it will be different because this time we’ve made a list … and then it’s only a matter of days before life gets in the way and reality sets in.
It will certainly happen, and maybe soon: At some point we’ll see it’s easier to abandon resolutions than to keep them.
The experts say this typically happens somewhere toward the end of January (New Year’s Resolution D-Day, they call it), but it can happen as early as yesterday.
Suddenly we realize there’s more work involved. The habit didn’t automatically go away, the relationship wasn’t magically transformed, the problem didn’t immediately disappear just because the calendar changed.
What do we do then?
We re-affirm the most essential resolution of them all — one that isn’t limited to a New Year’s list. This one can be made at any time, on any day of the year. It’s the resolution to try again, even when the effort isn’t as effortless as we want it to be.
Solomon reminds us (Proverbs 24:16) that though a righteous person falls seven times, they will get back up.
Creating lasting change in your life is never as easy as it looks in the movies. It requires a commitment to set aside our momentary feelings of discouragement, turn our backs on the temptation to call it quits, and try one more time.
Therefore… let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
There’s no doubt that this year can be your year … if you’re ready to resolve to try again.
