I am not one to make resolutions at set times, preferring to start wherever I am as soon as I am able. There is nothing magical about a day on the calendar after all and there is no guarantee that much-needed motivation will arrive as scheduled, nice as that might seem. This passage from my most recent (re)read gave a marvelous visual for an annual reset:
It has been said ‘that a fixed, inflexible will is a great assistance in a holy life.’
You can will to choose for your associates those who are most devout and holy.
You can will to read books that will stimulate you in your Christian life, rather than those that merely amuse.
You can will to use every means of grace appointed by God.
You can will to spend much time in prayer, without regard to your frame at the moment.
You can will to prefer a religion of principle to one of mere feeling; in other words, to obey the will of God when no comfortable glow of emotion accompanies your obedience.
You cannot will to possess the spirit of Christ; that must come as His gift; but you can choose to study His life, and to imitate it. This will infallibly lead to such self-denying work as visiting the poor, nursing the sick, giving of your time and money to the needy, and the like.
If the thought of such self-denial is repugnant to you, remember that it is enough for the disciple to be as his Lord.
And let me assure you that as you penetrate the labyrinth of life in pursuit of Christian duty, you will often be surprised and charmed by meeting your Master Himself amid its windings and turnings, and receive His soul-inspiring smile.
Or, I should rather say, you will always meet Him wherever you go.
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