Happy New Year everyone! Not to be cheesy, but a new year also means a new me! We’ve all probably got our lists of New Years Resolutions. Hopefully, we stick to them better than we did last year. And hopefully, they are not only resolutions to live a better life this year but to be a better person overall. So many times our New Years Resolutions focus solely on our bodies and not our spiritual well-being.
As Christians, Justin and I firmly believe that God should be the center of our lives. Everything should revolve around Him. Including our New Years Resolutions.
History
Most of you are probably like me and didn’t know that New Years Resolutions started out as a religious thing. It goes as far back as ancient Babylonia. The Babylonians were the first to hold recorded celebrations in of honor of the new year. During their celebration, they crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to pay their debts and return any borrowed objects. All in hopes that they would do these things and please their gods. If they didn’t keep their word they would fall out of favor with their gods. Which was not something anyone wanted.
I could give more examples but I’ll just skip ahead some. For Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. In 1740, an English Clergyman created the Covenant Renewal Service, now commonly referred to as the Watch Night Service. The services included scripture readings, song service, and served as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the new year. Now Watch Night Services are usually spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year.
Today
All that being said, New Year’s has gone from a day of reflecting on your past to work towards a better you for the next year. Now it is known as a day of partying in excess. With the mindset of “this could be the end, so let’s go out with a bang”. What used to be a holiday to celebrate starting over is now about seeing how wasted someone can get. Now hopefully that isn’t the case for everyone. Hopefully, some of you are like us and take time at the end of the year to reflect on all that God has done for you. Also to reflect on what you can do in the coming year to draw even closer to God.
If you are not sure what you want or need to work on in the new year. We will share a couple of our resolutions for 2019. Somethings together and some on our own. Reading our Bibles every day is on our list each and every year. We inevietably do not get it right, but that will never stop us from trying. It is a great goal to have because it is so easy and ultimately it will draw you closer to God. We also make the resolution to pray every day. This goes right along with reading your Bible. If you are able to combine these two spiritual aspects daily, your life will be forever changed. I guarantee it!
Thank you so much for reading
We hope you’ve enjoyed this post and that it helps you resolve to draw closer to God than ever before. That you take time to reflect on your year and thank God for all that He has done for you this year. If you’ve enjoyed this post, be sure to share it with someone. Also, we’d love to hear some of your resolutions for this New Year.
Don’t forget to check us out on social media. We are on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube. If you would like more faith-focused posts, click here. Again, thank you for reading! God Bless!
