It is the beginning of a new year. A time when people look ahead into the year with renewed hope. The old year has rolled away and become history. The successes, failures, frustrations and events have become history. It is as if it never existed.

It is also a time when people make resolutions. Areas of weaknesses to be dealt with, habits to be broken and relationships to mend. These are among the things people focus on at the beginning of the year. Typically people make resolutions like;

1 To stop drinking
2 Stop lying
3 Pray at least 30 minutes a day
4 Read at least one chapter of the Bible everyday
5 Control my anger

The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, New Year resolutions never get very far into the New Year before they are broken. Sometimes when such decisions are made, they are more or less wishes without any strong foundation. We want to draw closer to God, read the Bible daily, pray morning and night and attend church meetings regularly. We begin well but before the month of January ends, things begin to wane until a time when we forget that we ever made resolutions.

Is it bad for us to make a conscious determination to change or to improve in our walk with God? No it is not. Where we go wrong is that we make these resolutions, trusting in our ability to keep them. We think that by sheer determination we can make a change in our lives and so we strive and struggle until we get to a point where we don’t just care anymore. By the first quarter of the year we have given up and settled down into our old ways.

When we however make our resolutions and put our trust in God to help us, then it is a different matter entirely. Determination is good but determination alone cannot give us victory over sinful behaviour nor can it help us improve our walk with God. It can take us to a distance but may not take us to our destination.

We should learn from David, who the Bible refers to as, ‘a man after God’s heart’. David was like any of us, with all the shortcomings and the weaknesses. He however learnt the secret of walking with God. He trusted God with all of his heart. Even when things were going wrong, he still trusted God. This was why he became the greatest king Israel ever had.

Don’t think about your failures of last year. There is nothing you can do about them anymore. The fact that you failed in some areas last year does not mean you will fail this year. Determine to make a difference this year but make that decision fully trusting in the Lord and you will pleasantly surprised at the results!

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7

Steve Popoola(c) Biblepraise Fellowship Online, 2009

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. British by birth, He currently resides in Lagos, Nigeria with wife Maris and their children; Praise, Stephanie and Precious. He works in the IT department of a bank. He presently serves as Church Secretary and Heads the Music Ministry in his local church . He loves to encourage and inspire through speaking forums. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org