One Step at a Time

Another year is about to wrap up! Are you ready? I'm not sure yet myself. I mean, how do you get ready for a new year? What makes the last day of this year different from the first day of next year?

The difference is in the step I choose to take that day.

I've made resolutions for many years. Made promises that I failed to keep the very next day. Good intentions stifled and neglected by life and all its concerns. This new year, I want to really make a difference in myself, my choices, and my perception of life. I want to make each day count. Be an inspiration. Be a friend. Make wise choices. Give cheerfully. Help selflessly.

Notice I did not use the word "better" in my descriptions. Doing so would only add pressure to be what I wasn't the year before. I want to focus more on making each daily decision unrelated to the previous year or the day before. I want to see each new day as a clean slate. An opportunity to succeed. Not because I failed to be my best the day before, but because this new day comes with God's new mercies. A brand new opportunity full of His grace! Regardless of the days shortcomings, I can face the new day with new choices and new outcomes.

If I do this each day, I will become that better person I wanted to be all along. I will also show consistency in my decisions. Walking with God is a day-to-day relationship. Go ahead and make that first step! When you wake up, make that choice to say a few words in prayer. Not saying, "I'm going to pray this morning." But actually doing it without making plans to do so. If you see a stranger in need, don't tell yourself you should go over and help them. Put some action into your intentions. There's no telling what new doors may open for you in the new year, simply by taking a step in the right direction, without hesitation, and full of faith.

Better, Different and Motivated ... More than Yesterday

Today is a new day. A day with its own mercies. Today I will not focus on yesterday's failures, but consider each step I have taken that has brought me to today. I know it is God's intent that I live consistently by His word and develop spiritual maturity.

It is my goal to be mature. Mature enough to spend quality time speaking with the Lord. Mature enough to balance my time so that I am ready and available to be used by Him when He calls. Mature enough to not whine about stressful situations, but confidently take them to the Lord in prayer. Mature enough to recognize I don't have all the answers and seek guidance from my pastor, the Bible, and those in authority in my life. Mature enough to not spend every second focused on me, but taking time to see the needs of others, both physical and spiritual. Yes, I intend to be mature on this new day.

Each time I have entered the church, I purposed to leave differently. Better. More courageous. Humble. Obedient. Faithful. Compassionate. God, too, has purposed that each person who enters His presence leave differently than how he or she first came. He gave instruction in Ezekiel 46:9 that the people entering the tabernacle to worship should not leave the tabernacle by using the same gate they entered from. The instruction was to keep straight ahead and use the opposite gate in front of them. In the same fashion, when we enter the sanctuary to worship, we too have an encounter with a life-changing Savior who expects us to walk straight ahead in our transformation, not turning back to our old ways, but moving forward in our new commitments to God. With this resolve we will leave the sanctuary a different person. Better than the day before.