It happened!!!
New Year’s Resolutions.
I make a few every year. Am I successful? If I am honest, I start out with a bang & then fizzle at some point. Being a little more honest, usually that fizzle occurs by the end of January! 🙂
But this year something happened – I am still at it! I can hardly believe it myself. And the thing is, I have this little graph that shows me how I am doing. I checked it this morning, for the first time in a long time & it read 60%!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes.
As I sat thinking about what made the difference this year, the Holy Spirit gently reminded of a portion of Scripture:
 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,t but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
(Philippians 3: 12-13 NLT)
Here’s what I learned:
- I had not achieved my goal yet. No perfection in me. But the desire was there. We must have a desire to get to our goal.
- To achieve my goal, I had to “press on”. I had to pursue my goal with determination & strength. It would not be handed to me. It requires stretching oneself towards the finish.
- Focus is everything. I had to focus on the one thing. Not a hundred things. One thing. Despite what we are told, we cannot do everything well. But we can do one thing well, with excellence.
So, how are you doing? Maybe not so much with New Year’s Resolutions but with your relationship with God. See, it truly does matter. Every day. Are you desiring to spend time with Him? Are you pursuing Him with determination & all your strength? Is He your focus?
Paul gives us this exhortation:
“But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.” (verse 16 NLT).
We have to make our progress important to us. There cannot be any reversal, any going back, any ground lost.
When asked about this Olympics & all that he had achieved & his retirement from the sport, Michael Phelps replied, “I couldn’t ask to finish on a better note.” May we also be focused on our final note:
I press on to reach the end of the race & receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (verse 14 NLT)
