Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Does the Bible say anything about New Year's resolutions? Well, ... yes. Israel had just come out of Egypt when the Lord had said to them (at Passover time), "This month shall be your beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Ex. 12:2).
Shortly afterwards, they made a New Year's resolution at Mount Sinai. In fact, it was something like saying it under solemn oath, for they were making this resolution to God: "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (19:8). It was like Peter's resolution, while not at New Year, was the same time of year: "Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended" (Matt. 26:33, King James Version).
In both cases, those who made this New Year's resolution failed to keep it. Israel began worshipping a golden calf in a mere matter of days, and in Peter's case, he was denying his Lord and Savior in a matter of hours.
Both of those "resolutions" were "old covenant" in principle. And the dear Lord doesn't want us to get ourselves into old covenant resolutions, for they "give birth to bondage," says Galatians 4:24, that is, they lead us into spiritual slavery.
The little book Steps to Christ tells why: "You desire to give yourself to Him [the Lord], but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you" (p. 47).
Stop right there. Here's the problem! The memory of your frequent failures to keep your promises makes you feel that you are no good and "that God cannot accept you" or respect you. And that is horrible slavery.
A far better way to face the New Year is under the "new covenant." Instead of promising God you will do better, thank Him that He has promised to save you, that Christ has given Himself for you already and bought you with His blood, and that you are precious in His sight. The new covenant is Good News, the "old" is bad news.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 1, 1999.
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