Happy New Year! Or maybe not new at all.....

January 1, out with the old, in with the new. This date usually represents the chance to start over for most people. The calendar has ended and we have flipped back to the beginning of the 12 pages to start our book over.... or to start a new chapter in the book of our lives. I never really tried to make a resolution or try to make changes just because it was January 1st. Over this past year I tried to add new skills, freshen up old ones, and make life changes all through the months. I usually have a goal and at one point a switch flips and I decide... well maybe today I will start that!
One thing that remains constant is God and His law and His unfailing love for us. With a new year, we don't see a change in the rules He has set forth in our lives... we may see a change in our response to those rules!
1 John 1:5-6 I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.
It is hard to look at the New Year and not decide to make changes in our lives. The one constant, however, must be that we follow Gods commands, showing love to one another. When we submit ourselves in obedience to God, our motives change and we ultimately follow His commands rather than submit to the desires and temptations of our flesh. When we start to walk in His commands, we begin to treat others with the Love God has for us. We start to show Him to others, rather than our earthly selves.
This new year, make a resolution to put God and his commands first.... the relationships with others and with Him will grow and you will ultimately change....isn't that what resolutions are about? Becoming a better person? When you make God the basis for all your behavior, everything else will fall in line.
I hope you have a happy new year... and ultimately find the new life God has waiting for you when you surrender your life to Him and receive the change He has in store!