My resolutions for you

January 1st is one of my favorite days of the year. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I am giddy with expectation: a new year, a clean slate. New adventures and experiences lie in wait as we step into 2025!

I’m nothing if not reflective at this time of year, pondering the last 12 months, making plans-big and smallfor the next 12. I grab paper and pen to make notes. You may not be a resolution maker, but I am. I have daily and weekly to-do lists. Why not have a written one for the new year? I write them down, putting a copy in my Bible and daily devotional. That allows me to review them often to make sure I’m staying on task. I tell my family I will make some for them, too. (They don’t laugh.)

While I am making my own resolutions for the new year, I have made some for you: 1. Make Jesus your Number One. Seek Him in all things (Matthew 6:33).

2. Stand firm in your faith. If Jesus is your Rock, you are on a good foundation (Psalm 62:6). I’m not talking about a prissy stand for photos, but two feet firmly planted.

3. Stay in God’s Word. It’s good for you (2 Timothy 3:16). Don’t talk about it. Don’t say you will. Just read it. Every day. You’re too busy not to. Memorize it. Apply it. Carry it. Share it.

4. Tell people about Jesus (Mark 16:15). If He has made a difference in your life, don’t keep it to yourself.

5. Be a light in a dark world (Matthew 5:16). In 2025, you will encounter those who need hope, encouragement, a good word (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

6. Follow God fearlessly. Let Him lead and trust Him on the way (Proverbs 3:5-6). Even if you’re nervous, keep on steppin’.

I will probably have more to add later.

I sit here excited with blank paper in hand for plans, goals, and dreams. Who knows where the Lord will lead us and how He will use us in 2025?

Philippians 3:13-14 were written by the Apostle Paul: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” They sound like New Year’s verses to me.