By Selwyn Duke
I was never one for New Year's Resolutions. Quite frankly, they always struck me as silly. If a change is warranted, why wait for a certain date to make it?
While some people who make such resolutions are playing the game of procrastination in spiritual growth, others genuinely hope. They desperately want the grace -- even if they don't recognize it as such -- to transcend whatever troubles bedevil them. Nevertheless, we can't wait for tomorrow. As the saying goes, "Today may be a fair sample of eternity."
After all, just imagine I owed you money and said, "Well, look, I have this problem where I don't really pay my debts. But come see me after New Year's, 'cause, buddy, I aim to be a-changin' my ways." You shouldn't have to wait for some prospective moral development before receiving what you're owed.
So is it with God. We owe Him something: Obedience. And He enjoins us to walk in his footsteps even if we could never begin to fill His shoes. We're to strive to conform our will to His -- to move toward that elusive perfection -- each and every day, not just every New Year's Day.
To quote a very great, wise friend of mine, "You have to be born again every day." Of course, we're actually "born again" at baptism (the term is commonly misunderstood), but he simply meant that we have to experience constant conversion. "Conversion" is also widely misunderstood; it means -- when used properly in the Christian sense -- to turn from yourself to God.
Thus, if people asked me (I know, who asked me?), I wouldn't recommend any New Year's Resolutions, but I would advise them to make one last resolution this new year:
To make every day New Year's Day.
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