Many of us make New Year's resolutions that last about a week! We understand the need to make changes in our lifestyles, but we find those changes are not easy. Still, this is the time of the year when we at least recognize the need to make such changes. Maybe this is the year to actually do something about them.
Maybe the problem is that we try to make too many changes and begin to feel overwhelmed. When a person wants to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, improve their finances, spend more time with family, draw closer to God, read more, quit smoking, get better control of their temper, etc., that is a lot of changes! What might happen if we just focused on one or two of them? Perhaps it might be better to identify the one or two that would make the biggest difference in our lives and address them. I think it would improve our chances of actually following through. Once we got that area of our lives under control we could then move on to another one or two.
I would suggest that drawing closer to God might be at the top of most people's list of things to do in 2021. In the midst of our busy lives it is easy to drift spiritually. We might still go to church regularly and even read our Bibles and pray once in a while, but how many of us feel as close to God as we did when we were first saved? From my fishing days I know how easy it is to drift until you suddenly realize where you are and wonder how you got there. How you got there is because you did nothing to intentionally stay where you were. You let the current dictate where you went. The same is true in our spiritual lives as well. Too often, we allow life to cause us to drift from the things that should be most important in our lives.
How can you draw closer to God? One way is to commit to reading His Word every day. The church I'm currently serving has been invited to read through the Bible this year. Several have told me they are going to do it. For some it will be the first time they've ever started at Genesis and read through the entire Bible. Scripture teaches us that our faith grows as we are exposed to biblical teaching.
Another way to draw closer to God is to engage in regular times of prayer. When I lay down in bed most nights I pray the Lord's Prayer. When I wake up most mornings I pray that same prayer. It helps me bookend my day with God. Throughout the day I pray at various times, especially when I'm driving by myself. I've found that is a good time for prayer. I'm just having a conversation with God. People in other vehicles probably think I'm talking on my phone, but I'm just talking with God.
The Bible tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves with other believers. Due to the pandemic many have not been attending church services, but so many churches are now offering their services online that there is no reason to not participate in a worship service. I understand some people not wanting to attend in person for health reasons, but we now have the option to view numerous services across the country. Commit yourself to attending or watching at one least worship service every week. Being with other like-minded Christians will help our spiritual development.
Read good books that will help you draw closer to God. Biographies of Christian leaders, books on theology, devotional books, books on living the Christian life can all help you draw closer to God.
The reason I have focused on this one aspect of changing our lives is because if we make a change in this area it is likely to have a ripple effect in other areas of our lives. While we may well need to be intentional about changing things in other areas, when we are where we should be with God it will help us in the others areas as well.
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