Every January many people take the start of the New Year as a good starting point on a year of change in their lives.  It is usually the time when we make a resolution to try something new that will benefit us or change our lives for the better.  Diets are started, spending habits reviewed, quit smoking, etc.  In checking this year’s top ten resolutions on Google, they were all similar to previous years, always the same.  I clicked on seven of the top Google listings for most popular 2014 resolutions trying to find one that might mention something about, read the Bible more, go to church more, grow spiritually, etc.  But to no avail.  It wasn’t on any list I could find.

 

One of the most effective resolutions that one can make is to desire to grow spiritually.  It is God’s desire for all believers.  Romans 8:29 & 31 and he chose them to become like his Son.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  When you make a resolution to grow spiritually, and earnestly try on a daily/weekly plan, you will have all the help you need to succeed.  If your heart is in it, God will not let you fail.  Luke 11:13 how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!  God will send His Holy Spirit into your heart to lead you and teach you. 

 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor. 5:17.  The promise of God’s word to make us a new creation is far better than any diet or spending plan.  This is a resolution that will lead a ‘new creation’ to eternal life.  1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation.  As we study God’s Word we hopefully progress from milk to the meat of God’s Word, which will only come through study and prayer. 

 

If it is God’s will for us to become like His Son then we must grow.  That does not mean that we have to withdraw from our daily responsibilities.  It is God’s will for us to become more and more like His Son IN our daily activities.  In all that we do we should reflect Christian actions.  The more we submit our daily lives to Christ the more the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit will be evident in us.  He will transform us into the image of Christ, 2 Cor. 3:18 And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

 

Now that is a New Year’s Resolution that has eternal rewards.