The Only New Year

The Only New Year's Resolution Worth Making

The New Year is a time when perhaps half of us make New Year's resolutions, the most common of which is to lose some weight. Maybe you can testify that most resolutions produce no lasting change. Many have been forgotten before the month has passed.

But before we give up the idea, let's sit down and do a little game of imagination. Please imagine yourself back in grade school. Take a moment to remember your favorite classes, sports, teachers and classmates, not necessarily in that order.

Remember if maybe your parents once commented, "Lately it seems you're different. You dress different; you walk different, you're wearing your hair different." Maybe they also had the insight to ask, "Who is it at school who dresses, walks or wears his hair this way?"

If you remember such an experience, perhaps you also remember that you were not consciously copying anybody. But when you got to thinking about it, yes, there was someone at school whose mannerisms were contagious.

Or take another example: Four young men from Liverpool arrived in America to make music. Within months, America's young people began to dress like them, wear their hair like them, and make noises like them.

It is a law of the mind that by beholding we become changed. We naturally become like those we admire. And we in turn influence others, who may unconsciously become more like us. Of course the process is not all passive. We can purposely adopt some influences and reject others.

If we recognize this powerful principle, how can we use it responsibly? Can we be selective in the books and magazines we read, the TV and movies we view? What about the people with whom we choose to relax, and the topics of our conversation?

Although we come to resemble our friends and associates, surely our most powerful influence will be the God we admire. The Bible says of some people, "they followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless." [2 Kings 17:13 NIV] And when they "neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him," "their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." [Romans 1:21 NIV] Thus are we warned that if we admire and worship false gods, we will become like them.

What would be the result if our hero were the true God, if our greatest joy were to spend time with Him? What if when we relaxed, our first thought was of Him? What if the high point of each week was to meet with fellow Christians for the express purpose of knowing God better? What might be the natural result?

"We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory." [2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV] Yes, by beholding we become changed. And if we choose to behold our gracious God, we will be naturally changed to reflect His character.

What is the only New Year's resolution worth making? Let us resolve to spend more time getting acquainted with our God, whom to know is life eternal. [John 17:3]