Okay, so you went to the celebratory party, watched fireworks, maybe needed someone else to drive you home and then you slept late yesterday, getting up barely in time to watch your choice of bowl games. New Year's Day is over and now the regular grind of daily life is staring you in the face again. And you've probably even gotten to this point with nary a thought about a New Year's resolution. Am I right?
Well, if you want a better life and a better environment in which to live it is up to you to do your part to make it so. That's the whole idea behind New Year's resolutions. You take the time for a self-evaluation and decide a course of action you want to follow to make things better.
I've been pondering things in this department for a number of days. Some of you might have even seen my post last week where I mentioned a number of points that I wanted to try and incorporate into my personal resolution. I also ran into something today in my routine internet surfing which offered something of interest. One of the most energetic women in the world who I think much of, Sarah Palin, offered her resolutions on Fox. They were kind of interesting and, if you scratch below the surface a bit, I think you'll understand where she's headed. There were three points and they included:
1. Eat more meat
2. Make government as irrelevant as possible in your life and,
3. Live out John Wooden's famed "Pyramid of Success"
I see each of these as part of Sarah's push for individual decision-making as a key to what made America great. I think she's saying that we don't need government telling us what to eat (besides we all need a good dose of protein every day), that by getting government out of your life as much as possible you free up your individual creativity and using Wooden's plan for coaching success will make you industrious and thereby much more likely to succeed in your own life. Paying attention to the details and being industrious is something that has clearly generated good results.
Coming back to my own thoughts, every point that I thought was important to be considered brought me back to the same factor: my belief in Jesus Christ took center stage in my plan to get there. So after all that thought and assessment, my resolution results in one thing that I must do to attain anything else I find worthy. That one thing is putting Jesus Christ first in my life.
As a practicing Christian it is the only thing that works for me, for if I put Jesus first in all that I do I will clearly attain a level of success in life, both here and after death, which I could never reach on my own. And it might not be judged as success by earthly standards, but in the big picture that isn't what really counts. What God judges to be successful living is what we will all ultimately be evaluated against. By putting the Son of God first, with guidance delivered to you through the Holy Spirit, the rewards will be reaped upon you in ways you could never imagine. And by following His direction, He will help give you the means to care for your family and find ways to make our country better.
Don't get me wrong, it won't be easy. Good things never are, but He will give you the strength and determination to reach your final objective which, if you are a believer, is everlasting life.
I can't tell anyone else what to do since the decision is one that each of us must make, but it works for me. So strengthening my faith through more attention to reading and learning His Word, keeping communications open with Him through prayer, and actively participating in the community of sinners that is the Christian fellowship will be top on my list. And I will try to apply the guidance given through the Holy Spirit in all that I do. It's a tall order but there it is, simply stated.
Good luck to each of you on your resolutions and remember, God is always there for you. Open your heart to the Spirit, and let Jesus show you the way to the Father. God bless you all.
Well, if you want a better life and a better environment in which to live it is up to you to do your part to make it so. That's the whole idea behind New Year's resolutions. You take the time for a self-evaluation and decide a course of action you want to follow to make things better.
I've been pondering things in this department for a number of days. Some of you might have even seen my post last week where I mentioned a number of points that I wanted to try and incorporate into my personal resolution. I also ran into something today in my routine internet surfing which offered something of interest. One of the most energetic women in the world who I think much of, Sarah Palin, offered her resolutions on Fox. They were kind of interesting and, if you scratch below the surface a bit, I think you'll understand where she's headed. There were three points and they included:
1. Eat more meat
2. Make government as irrelevant as possible in your life and,
3. Live out John Wooden's famed "Pyramid of Success"
I see each of these as part of Sarah's push for individual decision-making as a key to what made America great. I think she's saying that we don't need government telling us what to eat (besides we all need a good dose of protein every day), that by getting government out of your life as much as possible you free up your individual creativity and using Wooden's plan for coaching success will make you industrious and thereby much more likely to succeed in your own life. Paying attention to the details and being industrious is something that has clearly generated good results.
Coming back to my own thoughts, every point that I thought was important to be considered brought me back to the same factor: my belief in Jesus Christ took center stage in my plan to get there. So after all that thought and assessment, my resolution results in one thing that I must do to attain anything else I find worthy. That one thing is putting Jesus Christ first in my life.
As a practicing Christian it is the only thing that works for me, for if I put Jesus first in all that I do I will clearly attain a level of success in life, both here and after death, which I could never reach on my own. And it might not be judged as success by earthly standards, but in the big picture that isn't what really counts. What God judges to be successful living is what we will all ultimately be evaluated against. By putting the Son of God first, with guidance delivered to you through the Holy Spirit, the rewards will be reaped upon you in ways you could never imagine. And by following His direction, He will help give you the means to care for your family and find ways to make our country better.
Don't get me wrong, it won't be easy. Good things never are, but He will give you the strength and determination to reach your final objective which, if you are a believer, is everlasting life.
I can't tell anyone else what to do since the decision is one that each of us must make, but it works for me. So strengthening my faith through more attention to reading and learning His Word, keeping communications open with Him through prayer, and actively participating in the community of sinners that is the Christian fellowship will be top on my list. And I will try to apply the guidance given through the Holy Spirit in all that I do. It's a tall order but there it is, simply stated.
Good luck to each of you on your resolutions and remember, God is always there for you. Open your heart to the Spirit, and let Jesus show you the way to the Father. God bless you all.
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