TODAY IS….

a wonderful day to look at things differently.

“How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?”  Psalm 116:12 NIV

As the New Year approaches, many of us look forward to the end of the current year saying, “I hope next year’s a lot better than this one!”

As if the stroke of midnight that changes one day to another holds a magical allure to us, we look at the approach of midnight, December 31, as a chance to “start over.” Of course, the only true way to start over is to accept Christ into our lives, repent of our sins, and ask God for His forgiveness, which really wipes our slate clean.

Be that as it may, perhaps God doesn’t mind a tiny bit of indulgence, so let us look at January 1 as a new beginning. There is no better time to prepare for the future than to use the Gift of Today to do it. As the New Year approaches, the pen and paper come out and ‘resolutions’ are made with which we hope to truly change in a positive way for the next year.

The most common resolutions are to lose weight and quit smoking. While these are both extremely important things to consider for our health and well-being, why don’t we look at things differently for next year, especially if we are among those who are glad this year is ending?

Let’s begin by looking back over the past year and taking note of all of the blessings we have received from God. Many of us will discover that some of God’s blessings accompanied those events which contribute to our looking forward to a new year. But if we think about it, we can see that we learned and grew as a result of those things and that God demonstrated His love for us time and time again.

We should be less thankful that the year is ending, and more thankful that God was with us every step of the way.

If we really want to change, we will need God’s help, so how about considering some of these suggestions for resolutions?

– I resolve to thank God every day for all He does for me.

– I resolve to look for Christ in every person I meet.

– I resolve to do something significant in service to God and my brothers and sisters each day.

– I resolve to spend less time on the couch and more time on my feet doing the Lord’s work.

– I resolve to pray for other people every day.

– I resolve to think more about God so that I am less inclined to think about things I shouldn’t.

– I resolve to think less of myself and more about those around me.

These are a few suggestions you can claim as your own and then say, “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of His people.” (Psalm 116:14 NIV).

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson