Starting Over

January is the month of starting over.

It is the month of New Year's resolutions...promises to start over.

Think about the kinds of resolutions you normally make at the beginning of January each year...here are some of the classics:


-- "I am going to eat better."

-- "I am going to exercise more."

-- "I am going to stop smoking."

-- "I am going to watch TV less."

-- "I am going to save more money."


What do they all have in common? They all require a change in your life...and they all express your desire to start over.

The problem is, most of us eventually fail when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.

Most of the time, those old habits creep back into our lives...sometimes quickly...sometimes bit-by-bit...until we reach the point where, basically, nothing has changed.

Old habits die hard.

Why? Because, if we are honest, we must admit that our hearts are not in it.

Our "heads" tell us that we WANT to change, that we WANT to start over...and we convince ourselves it is true. "THIS time it will be different. THIS time I really mean it."

But, the truth is, it is your "head" talking. Not your heart.

The same thing happens when it comes to your relationship with God.

Something happens in your life and you decide that you need to get closer to Him. Usually, the plan goes something like this...


1. I will pray more.

2. I will read my Bible more.

3. I will go to church more.

4. I will give more money to the church.

5. I will be a better person.


In other words, the plan is to "butter up" the Lord so He will be so impressed with you that He can't help but send showers of blessings your way.

But, in the end, the plan is no more useful than your annual January plan to start over, because these promises to God are no more than New Year's resolutions in disguise.

They are made with your head and not with your heart.

What if Jesus had made resolutions rather than promises? What if He had said in His head something like this: "Yes, I will go to the cross, beaten and bloodied. And, once there, I will let the Roman guards drive spikes into my hands and feet. I will wear a crown of thorns. I will take on all of the sins of all mankind. And, I will suffer and die because that is the only way you can get to heaven."

If this had been only a New Year's resolution, do you think Jesus would have gone through with the plan? Or, would He have changed His mind at some point, like when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration...or as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...or in the Upper Room...or even in the Garden of Gesthemene?

He had plenty of opportunities to turn around a go the other way.

What if He had decided to just forget the whole plan and go back to the glories of heaven where He could share eternity in the presence of angels and on streets of gold?

Who could have blamed Him?

The good news is that Jesus did not make His promise with His head, He made it with His heart. In His heart, He said, "I love you so much that nothing will stop me from dying for you. And living for you...so you can eventually live with Me."

If you really want to get closer to God during the new year, then it is not your head that needs to change. It is not your head that needs to start over. It is your heart.

Give God your heart first, and your life will follow.

Then, you will find yourself doing all of those good things for God, not because you want to butter Him up, but because you are so close to Him already that they are simply reflections of your relationship with Him.

Paul said something similar in Romans, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message:

"As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right ANYTHING for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is REAL LIFE, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:20-23)

This year, resolve to give up the good intentions of your head and instead, give up your heart...to God. That is the only way to start over with Him in a way that will make a difference not just now, but forever.

May you find a new life with the Lord during this new year,



Happy New Year!

Pastor Greg