I’ve always considered a new year as a fresh start. A time to right what I did wrong and place something new where something needs to be replaced. For mosts of my adult years (if not also in my elementary ones) I’ve made a list of my hopes and dreams for the next twelve months. It has been my unwritten rule to have that done by the time the ball drops, because once the new year started I feel an immense amount of pressure to work my new plan and not mess it up.
This years is no different. I am ready to restart. Last year was fill of trials, unexpected twists and way to many distractions. Needless to say, I’m ready for that year to be gone and the new one to begin.
In pure desperation to not live a repeat of this year, a friend and I joined an online workshop together entitled, “5 Days You your Best Year Ever.” I’ve worked the material diligently and am banking on the title that the never 365 days are going to be unlike any of the preceding 11,500 or more that I’ve already lived. I have list of “shouldda, wouldda, and couldda’s…” and I am determined to not let next year end with an equally as long or longer list. Something must change.
But let’s be honest, the longer we live the more we begin to doubt that things actually will change. I’ve restarted the diet 100 times, I’ve given thousands of dollars to the gym membership, I’ve missed my income goal nearly every year, and my moral and family goals are upheld only as long as the last Christmas light stay up into the new year.
So how Can I change this? How can I have my greatest year yet? I know it is going to take something stronger than my own will-power. And that is exactly it – if I am really going to see lasting change in my life then I must get back to the most basic but most powerful thing in my life: my relationship with God.
Now I know the skeptical side of you is already, saying, “Yeah, I know I need God, but how can He really help? This comes down to me working out my own “Salvation” and goals. God is probably just as disappointed with me as I am with myself?
Listen: God doesn’t have a “Better luck next time” attitude with His children. He has a “Give it your Best Shot because I got your back” kind of attitude. He already believes that this coming year can be your greatest because He will give you everything you need to make it your best – all you had to do is have diligence and faith.
So will you do that? Will you believe for a second that God has something greater in front of you than what is behind you? Or will you keep believing that your best years where in your 20’s or 30’s and its all down hill from here until your in the grave?
I will never forget hearing Gordon MacDonald speaking to a small group of pastors a few years ago, when he said, “I’ve just entered my best years of ministry… and I am 78.” He went on to encourage us to spend our 20’s, 30’s 40’s and 50’s to prepare for the later years of our life which will be the greatest years of our life.
I don’t care if you are 21, 81 or anywhere in-between, this is for you: you are not “Spent”, you should not be “shelved”, you are not “the older model”, there is no such thing as an old-dog, a rusty shell, a good-for-nothing human. In God’s eyes you are who and where wants you to be and he has great plan for you if you’ll stop believing your own lies and start believing His truth.
Here are the 6 biblical essentials I am keeping to have the best year ever:
- Keep your resolutions, no matter the opposition.
- Listen the voice of God over the voice of others.
- Trust God with the outcome and simply do the next right thing.
- Humble yourself so you can be used for God’s greater purposes.
- Heed God’s wisdom and have a reputation that precedes you.
- Be more convicted of your priorities than your preferences.
