I wonder how many of you made a New Year’s Resolution and if you did I wonder how long it lasted?
Maybe you’ve already broken it or perhaps it’s going to be something of a complete life change, which means you’ll never go back to the previous way of doing things?
A survey from an American University suggested that a surprisingly high 75% of resolutions would last a week, and an equally surprising 46% would last for six months. Apparently if you’re younger your chances of success are better. Four in every ten people in their twenties will achieve their resolution, but if you’re over 50, it drops dramatically to below 15%.
The list of the ‘top ten’ New Year’s resolutions contains the usual suspects like losing weight, stopping smoking, staying fit and spending less but my favourite was to ‘help others in their dreams.’
‘Helping others in their dreams’ – I wonder what that actually looks like?
Of all the resolutions on the list, this is the only one that is focussed away from the person who makes it. I’m not suggesting that self improvement is a bad thing, and certainly if we believe that God has created his world for his creation and we should take care of it, then looking after ourselves comes under that remit.
But putting the interests of others ahead of our own is fairly central to the way that Jesus calls us to live. God first. Others second. Ourselves last.
The church as a community of followers of Jesus Christ should also have dreams (or a vision) and I hope that you join with me in desiring to see our communities transformed, having an eagerness to see lives changed, and more than anything, having a desperate longing for friends and family to know God in the way that we do – as Saviour and as friend. May 2018 be a year in which we see that resolution realised.
So wishing you all a blessing filled New Year where your dreams are realised,
Ros
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