New Year Resolutions. Do they serve to make you feel guilty (in March) and have you psyching yourself up (in July) to make better resolutions for next year?

 

Am an avid runner. Over the years, I have logged an average 100km on the road every month. The sun has bore down on me, and the rain beaten me in almost equal measure but that has long ceased to be a deterrent. Around about this time of the year, my jogging route is teeming with what I call NYRs – New Year “Resolutionaries.” Oh, it’s so easy to spot them – squeaky clean branded shoes and gear to match. Colorful, reflective clothing. The kind you see in the Amazon Sports and Outdoors department. And to shame my regular types that have sweat dripping through loose cotton T’s, these folks, with their tight-fitting technical apparel smell good. Really good. I have a nose for scents and I could swear I have caught whiffs of Chanel, Armani, Bvlgari, name it, all in one 10km run. Juxtaposed with these Johnny-come-latelies, we, the hoi polloi, look bad. Really bad. Looking through my window the other day as I was getting ready to hit the road, the colorful spectacle of NYRs streaming up and down my street had me contemplate postponing my running activity to the time they returned to whence they came from. My better judgement prevailed.

 

Long after the flashy Nike gear and Fitbit contraptions are stashed away (and only the perfume remains), I’ll still be on the road, me and my friends. One of them is a rag-tag fellow who runs the opposite way of my direction. We chest thump and high-five every so often. I don’t know his name but that doesn’t matter. The camaraderie does. He’s been lost in the new year crowd. He always does. But it won’t be long before I see him. You see, both of us are in this for the long haul. And be sure we always welcome a few other folks – the ones who don’t fall off the wagon in February; the ones who plod on and endure the seemingly unending monotony of JFMAMJJASOND and become jogging junkies, just like us. And about this time next year, we will be ready to use a little fragrance on our route.

 

So much for the small matter of my neighborhood observations. God considers time in seasons and is never confined to the Gregorian calendar. What a new year, as we humanly understand it, serves up is what we experience every morning. Freshness. New Hopes. New Dreams. A chance to start all over again.

 

Beyond the sweeping resolutions, may I make a suggestion? How about we make a habit of actively entrusting the future (while continually making the most of the present) to the one who doesn’t need introductions and simply says “I AM.” Before the ink dries in your book of resolutions, how about you let Him in on your plans and be open to Him letting you in on His plans for you. And then choose His plans over yours. And as the year progresses, go back to Him for needed help to follow through.

 

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It is. And that one resolution could just as well be the only resolution you will ever need in this life.