1. Clean my teeth twice daily
2. Always stick to the speed limit
3. No Chocolate
4. Don’t lose my temper with the kids
5. Always meet deadlines
6. Weed each week

Are you a New Year’s resolution kind of person? If so, then today is a good day to be thinking about your new year’s resolutions! It is also a good time to review how you are going in faith. Would it not be a great thing if (by God’s Grace and with his help) in a years’ time you were even more godly than you might be today?

To start the year I thought I might offer some suggestions for resolutions which may have eternal benefits (rather than just annual benefit!)…

1. Read the Bible every day and dwell on it.

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.(Col 3:16)

Colossians 3:16 is a great encouragement when it comes to doing business with the Word of God because it encourages us to dive deeply into what God is saying. Notice that there are three dimensions here: a. the word of Christ dwells in you, as you b. teach and admonish others, as you c. sing with gratitude to God. In, Out and Up!

Why not read a chapter of the Bible each day, or listen to 20 minutes of the Bible on CD. Enjoy. For a phone app which may help go: here

And let me recommend to you an excellent resource – The Bible Project. Sign up here (it is free) and you will get a reading plan plus a helpful short video that covers each book of the Bible as you come to reading it. Fun and extremely helpful.

2. Pray – and pray often.

From Old Testament to New Testament, God calls his people to pray and so we must. If God talks most clearly to us in his word then we should talk to him in prayer. The letter of Jude (one of the many many places in the Bible which calls us to pray) we are told that we live in a time when there will be scoffers and dividers, but the believers response should be to build one another up in faith and pray in the Spirit (Jude 19-20).

Why not list 31 different people, ministries or causes and pray one each day of the month – then repeat each month this year.

3. Spur one another on.

 Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.(Heb 10:24-25)

 We can say confidently that Jesus is coming – that day is approaching. Whether it is this year will remain a mystery until he appears. While we wait we should do what we can to encourage one another. That makes a lot of sense to me. Go out, do battle, live in a world that may reject us because it rejects Christ – then gather together as people of like-mind to spur one another on to go out again in the name of Christ.

Friends, our church family is a great gift. Do what we can to ensure we make meeting together a priority – and together let’s support one another as we stand for Christ.

Have a faithful and fruitful New Year. Come Lord Jesus.