New Beginnings

How have you chosen to start 2012? Maybe you feel like the person who made the following resolutions:

• I’ve decided to eat more and exercise less.
• I’ve decided not to join the gym but to drive by it at least once a week.
• I’ve decided to sit more and walk less.
• I’ve decided to spend the dollars but save the change.
• I’ve decided my motto this year for paying bills will be “better late than never.”

It sounds as if this person wasn’t very successful fulfilling last year’s goals so he’s making new ones that carry less expectation. This is a time when we normally come face to face with our failures and broken promises with the hope of doing better. We often say, “I realize I wasn’t all I could have been in 2011, but this year is going to be different. I’m more determined than ever.” It very well could have been during this season that Paul wrote Ephesians 4. Here he talks about stopping and starting. He speaks of the old verses the new. He encourages us to be “renewed in the spirit,” and to “put on or become a new man.” By doing this he reveals a great truth. Changing who we are is directly related to our choosing who we want to be. Simply stated, we are who we are because of the choices we made yesterday and the person we are tomorrow will be based upon the choices we make today. In light of this, should we not incorporate God into our lives, resolving to study seriously the things we choose to do, the places we chose to go and the words we choose to say? Our future and ability to complete our goals depend on it! This can be your year of new beginnings.