Word from The WORD: 44640 Minutes Pass By!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

44640 Minutes Pass By!

Resolutions

It so appears that we have just started a New Year and we face the fact that we have come to the end of the first month. 44,640 precious minutes of this year is just passing by and we are left with 11 multiples of such minutes.

At this juncture I think about the resolutions that I made on the New Year day –

To write and post a devotional blog “everyday”
To cook along with my wife “everyday”
To not bring the laptop home in the evenings after work
To sleep early “every night”
To read and meditate the Bible at nights too
To call and speak to some old friends
To read a chapter/portion of a book, not just occasionally but “everyday”

And as I look at these resolutions of mine, I know that I could not successfully, regularly keep them. Even after continuously reminding myself of the resolutions that I made I could not succeed in fulfilling them.

What shall I do? Resign to the reality that it is not possible to keep resolutions? Restrain myself from thinking further about the resolutions that I made? And if I look at the resolutions that I made down the years many unfulfilled resolutions will pile up before me. But I am not going to give up and so are you!

Let’s give a fresh start tomorrow. Let us resolve to retry to keep our resolutions from tomorrow onward. In the Scripture portion that I meditated this morning Jesus says,

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23 NKJV)

Carrying Cross Even if the resolutions seem like a cross, I need to take them up “daily”. I may not have carried it before; it might be heavy; I might feel as if I may not be able to carry it; I might also fall at times under its weight. But I am going to take it up “daily”. Only the DAILY carrying of the cross would make me a Daily Christian; if not I would only be an Occasional Christian and will end up being a Dead Christian – dead in listening to God’s voice, dead to my responsibilities, dead to being sensitive to God’s move, dead to God’s will and dead to be His messenger!

Tonight before hitting the bed this is what I am going to pray, “Lord, I know that I have not been successful in keeping so many resolutions. I do not have the strength and the resolve to keep my resolutions. Give me Your grace so that I may become resolute.”

Will you join with me in praying in this manner and to retry to keep resolutions? A fresh day, a new month and 11 whole months is before us!

“And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” (Philippians 1:6 AMP)