Resolution – TGN

The Christian’s Resolution For The New Year

Enoch Anti — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 13:21:51 +0000

It’s that time of year when New Year resolutions take center stage—those well-intentioned plans to make adjustments to our lives. Resolutions are valuable; they prompt us to evaluate, reassess, and realign our priorities.

As we enter 2025, I am confident many of you are considering—or have already begun—writing down your resolutions. Like you, I have plans for the new year, especially in the area of spiritual growth and maturity. One of my resolutions is to read through the entire Bible—Old and New Testaments—in 2025. Is that something you might consider as well? I encourage you to do so.

For believers, New Year resolutions offer a unique opportunity to reflect on our lives and measure how well we’ve used our time, gifts, and opportunities to glorify God. As the Greek philosopher Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” The Apostle Paul takes this further: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Examining our lives not only involves reflecting on the past but also requires planning and making decisions for the future (Proverbs 6:6-11, Luke 14:28).

The Believer’s Duty: Diligent Bible Study

One area where many believers struggle is the consistent reading and study of the Bible. Yet Scripture is our only infallible source of truth and guidance in our walk with God, and we must read and study it as a matter of duty.

As R.C. Sproul aptly stated:

I could plead with you to study the Bible for personal edification; I could try the art of persuasion to stimulate your quest for happiness. I could say that the study of the Bible would probably be the most fulfilling and rewarding educational experience of your life. I could cite numerous reasons why you would benefit from a serious study of Scripture. But ultimately the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our duty. ~ R.C. Sproul ¹

Cultivate a Desire to Study

The primary obstacle to Bible study is often a lack of desire. Many of us understand the importance of Scripture but struggle to prioritise it in our busy lives. The distractions and cares of the world can easily crowd out time for God’s Word.

However, spiritual growth begins with a heartfelt longing for God’s Word. As the psalmist writes:
“As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1).

Desire cannot be manufactured by sheer willpower—it must be cultivated through prayer. Ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to stir a genuine hunger for His Word within you.

Make Time for Study

Desire alone is insufficient; you must carve out dedicated time for Bible reading. Without intentional scheduling, even the best intentions will falter.

Consider starting your day with Scripture. Mornings often provide a quiet and focused environment for reflection. Jesus Himself modelled this practice:

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

While mornings may not work for everyone, the key is consistency. Find a time that works for you and commit to it.

Study Systematically

Approach Bible reading with a plan. Avoid randomly selecting verses or skipping around; instead, read systematically to grasp the overarching narrative of Scripture.

A structured Bible reading plan can help you stay organized and motivated. Choose a plan that suits your pace and goals, whether it is reading the entire Bible in a year or focusing on specific sections. Here are several bible reading plan options that can help you get started.

Take Notes

To maximize the benefits of Bible study, keep a notebook handy. Write down insights, questions, and key lessons from your reading. This habit deepens engagement with the text and helps you retain what you’ve learned.

Invest in resources like a study Bible, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries to enhance your understanding. If possible, use multiple translations to gain a broader perspective on the text.

Meditate on Scripture

Bible reading should not stop at comprehension; it must lead to meditation. Reflect deeply on what you’ve read, allowing it to shape your thoughts and actions.

Meditation involves pondering, questioning, and internalising the Word of God. As Joshua 1:8 advises:
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.”

Think of meditation as spiritual digestion—it transforms the Word into nourishment for your soul. It is said, “if you know how to worry, you can meditate on the word”. Just worry about the word. Ask questions in your mind. Turn the word over. My favourite explanation of meditation is the analogy with a ruminant chewing its cud. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Joshua 1:8 and Psalms 1:1-2).

Obey The Word

The ultimate goal of Bible study is not merely knowledge but obedience. Scripture must shape how we live, aligning our actions with God’s will.

As the psalmist prayed:
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

When we apply the truths of Scripture to our lives, we bear fruit for God’s glory and experience the transformative power of His Word.

There are indeed many benefits to reading through the Bible. Here are a few articles you can refer to. If you have questions about why you must read through the Bible, this FAQ might be helpful.

We at The Gospel Network wish you a Happy and fruitful New Year as you take steps to master the Bible so that it may master you.

Notes:

1: R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture (InterVarsity Press, 2009) (Kindle page 35).

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Why Resolutions Fail

Kwesi Sena — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 06:00:00 +0000

After enjoying a delicious lunch on January 1, a dear friend and I discussed the past year and encouraged ourselves in what we could do better in 2023. He shared how one resolution has remained unaccomplished over the last three years. He would set the same goal year after year, but the outcome has remained the same: a dusty book that sits on a shelf unread. This brother is a go-getter par excellence, one of the most conscientious and disciplined people I have ever met. So, I was most intrigued to discover why his resolution remains unaccomplished.

As we conducted a root cause analysis, he made a simple point which I found profound. His line of work involves a lot of reading, and according to him, whenever he has to read for work, there is no shortage of motivation because he would have to give an account by way of assessment. Immediately it became clear to me that the book continues to sit on the shelf after three years because the accomplishment of the resolution has not been connected to any greater purpose. There is nothing at stake, whether the book gets read or not.

Finding a Larger-than-Life Purpose

I firmly believe that if his job depended on that book, my friend would have read it. He is not alone in this conundrum. Year after year, the same question is asked, why are so many of us unable to stick to our resolutions beyond the first quarter of the year? The reason is straightforward; I believe it’s because we do not connect our goals to a higher enough purpose. When a goal or resolution is not linked to a higher purpose, the chances of breaking it becomes higher. A higher purpose will act as an inbuilt motivational mechanism that will drive our resolve. But the question then arises as to what qualifies as a higher purpose.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives us an objective, larger-than-life purpose to which we must connect our resolutions and ambitions. In chapter 10:31, he writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.“

According to Paul, the glory of God is the only larger-than-life purpose to which we must link all our ambitions and goals. It is the only purpose that has enough inbuilt power to sustain and drive our resolutions and produce unspeakable joy when those resolutions are achieved.

Why is the glory of God the only purpose that can truly drive our resolutions? The answer is simple. It is because we are made for God’s glory. We only realise our true purpose when we find it in God’s glory. This means we come alive when we connect our ambitions to God’s glory. And whenever we live for any purpose other than God’s glory, it’s like having an autoimmune disease. We’re fighting against our true nature, and we all know the ultimate result of an autoimmune disease if it is not checked.

Lesser Purpose might bring Short-Term Accomplishment but no Joy.

It is true that there are people who achieve their resolutions by connecting them to lesser purposes—for instance, a desire for money or fame, etc. But sooner or later, they discover that money cannot buy everything, and if the world of celebrities is anything to go by, the more fame you have, the more hiding you have to do. Isn’t that ironic? Contrary to what the world tells us, fame doesn’t bring the satisfaction it promises. These people may achieve short-term objectives, but in the long run, lesser purposes lack the strength to sustain the true and lasting ambitions of people created in the image of a glorious God.

Perhaps that explains why our world has no lasting joy or satisfaction. There are so many people who accomplish their temporal resolutions but will still not know the joy and satisfaction that goes with those accomplishments. It’s simply because these resolutions were not connected to the larger purpose of God’s glory. Only the glory of God can both sustain our drive and, at the same time, guarantee joy and satisfaction when those resolutions are accomplished.

In his high priestly prayer in John 17, in verse 4, Jesus prayed, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” We see in this verse that Jesus connected his work on earth to God’s glory. True success is only when our ambitions and goals redound to the praise and glory of God, according to Jesus.

Therefore, as you think through all the ambitions and goals you want to accomplish this year, ask yourself, to what end do I want to achieve these ambitions? Are they in any way connected to God’s glory? Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians was, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. That means everything we do, including all our resolutions and even the mundane things like eating and drinking, must be connected to the glory of God if we are to have true joy.

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