On January 1st, I sat in my study and wrote out ten very specific goals for this year. They have served as reminders to both pray and pursue in many areas of my life. As we begin this new month, I am reminded that the year is now officially half over. Six months of this year are gone forever. I don’t know what that means to you, but for me it is a sobering reminder that days, and weeks, and months, and years…and life is passing quickly.
Our all-wise Lord said, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1). He knows us better than we know ourselves! There is in all of us a tendency to start strong and then let up. To begin and not finish. To make commitments and never complete them.
Were you more dedicated to your New Year resolutions on January 1 or today?
This is human nature. In reality, it is our sin nature. Oh, we have the best of intentions, but intentions are never enough. In many areas of life, the first days are the best. New Christians are usually the most aggressive witnesses. Many married couples give more attention to the wedding and honeymoon than the rest of their married lives. Something happens. We settle down – we settle for less than God’s best. Now is the time for “more earnest” attention!
Perhaps at the halfway point of the year, you are discouraged by the lack of progress you seem to have made. In some areas, I am as well. Charles Spurgeon wrote that we must work with “double earnestness” when we do not see results.
Could I challenge you to make a July 2 resolution? July 2 marks the middle of the year. Make the second half of the year even better than the first! Start again. Begin fresh. I am going back over those ten prayer goals this week. Where there has been growth, God deserves the glory. Where there has been failure, I am rededicating myself to God. I have half of the year left, and I want to finish well.
The words of P.P. Bliss are my prayer for the second half:
More holiness give me, more strivings within;
More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin;
More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care;
More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.
More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord;
More pride in His glory, more hope in His Word;
More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief;
More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.
More purity give me, more strength to o’ercome;
More freedom from earth stains, more longing for home;
More fit for the kingdom, more used would I be;
More blessed and holy, more Savior, like thee.
RELATED READ: The New Year’s Prayers of Matthew Henry
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Oh Scott, Scott, Scott, once again you did it! It makes me think, makes me refocus. We do settle, we settle for less than the LORD has for us, but neither are we as thankful as we should be for what He has given us. What a shame!! Scott, I pray that the LORD continues to bless you and use you. That my friend is a selfish prayer on my part, because He uses you to bless and encourage me.