2014 has gone at lightning speed –or so it seems. I can’t believe that we are already at the end of the year. Very soon, after the Christmas and New Year fever –presents and feasting– we’ll embark in the ‘routine’ of the resolutions for 2015. I say routine because to many, making NY’s resolutions is like going to church on Sunday –or at Christmas–: it’s cool and mechanical. It’s just the normal thing to do, but the spirit is not really there.
This is why I propose, before we are caught up with the frenzy of the festivities, that we assess our last resolutions. Let’s take out the list of our 2014 resolutions and goals –for those who can still find it– and do two things.
1Thess 5:21, “Test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
1. The good things. Let us examine the goals and resolutions that we have successfully achieved and try to understand the reasons for our success. Maybe it had to do with an area of passion? Maybe we implemented some changes in our character or relationships? Or developed a habit or two that proved to be very productive? Why has this worked and that has not? Our discoveries will (mostly) be our strengths in 2015 –what we will need to lean on in order to build things in 2015.
2. The bad things. Let’s examine what has not worked. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent (Rev 2:5). It’s not enough to acknowledge the failure and put the resolution back on the new list. Some people take the same goals year after year, without ever achieving them. Sometimes, they are even smiling as they write it down, knowing in advance how it’s going to end –as I said earlier, it’s just a routine. It feels good to promise oneself not to procrastinate anymore or to go to the Gym every week or read one’s Bible every day or… or…
Common wisdom demands that you change the way you do things, if after many efforts, you still do not get the expected or desired outcome! Let’s not just routinely put back certain resolutions on the paper. Let’s analyse things; let’s understand the reasons of our failure and let’s make the necessary adjustments in prayer, right now.
Lk 14.28-31, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish. ’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?”
2015 is like a tower to build or an army to conquer. Before rushing to assail it, let's count our stock and evaluate our resources. Let's consolidate our strengths and correct our weaknesses. This is the attitude of someone who truly wants to succeed (in 2015) and we have about two weeks to do just that.
One must take a run-up in order to go beyond a certain height (high jump and pole) or length. athlétisme. C'est à partir d'une certaine distance de la barre que l'athlète gagne l’impulsion qui lui permettra de franchir l’obstacle et d’aller le plus loin possible. It is from a certain distance that the athlete gathers the impetus which will help him or her overcome the obstacle and go as far as possible. It is not on January 1st or during that first month that we will begin to think of our goals and resolutions. The momentum, which will enable us to jump over the 2015-bar or 2015-distance with style, should be taken now.
Happy month of December and to your success!
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