A Season For Renewal

It's a brand-new year, and with it come resolutions. The firm decision to do or not to do something. A choice. A quick scroll through social media will show you lots of these firm decisions. Go to the gym, lose weight, save for something, eat differently, be a better parent, move away from the snow, get that job you have always dreamed of, quit that job you used to dream of. 

You will also find contrarians. I resolutely walked into the gym yesterday, and it was full of people. Wow, this place is packed, I said to the staff. It's that time of the year, he laughed. 

Maybe you think resolutions are dumb and you refuse to do them - which is a resolution- or maybe you think they are great and you have a bunch of them, either way doesn’t matter to me. 

Allow me to offer one opinion. 

Look at the new year as a season of renewal and a return to faithfulness. 

In the scriptures, believers would go up to the temple to seek forgiveness for their sins, reconnect with God, worship, etc. In my simplistic mind, I see this as renewal or committing again to being faithful to God.

Resolutions are firm decisions to do or not do something, and they fail because people are not perfect. More than that, as a believer, that reeks of self-righteousness. 

Think about your resolutions; almost all of them are about self-control, which we know is a fruit of the Spirit.

So, at the beginning of the year, resolve to renew your relationship with the Lord and commit yourself to living a faithful life through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives and works inside of you.

Bless you, 

Pastor