Reflection
Within my family, when I was a child, the New Year was little more than a change of date on the calendar – actually, of course, it meant a new Calendar, but that was pretty much it. The first of January was a normal working day in most of the UK. The turn of the year is marked far more widely now, with many people staying up to ‘see the new year in’, safe in the knowledge that the first day of the year is a public holiday when they can rest and recover. Whether we do that or not, the start of a new calendar year affords us the opportunity to reflect upon our lives; what we feel we have achieved in the past twelve months, and what we hope for in the next. It is also a useful point at which to consider in what way(s) we need to live differently in future. Hence, the New Year’s resolution, where we might make a specific commitment to change in some way. It is always good to re-evaluate our lives and to take appropriate action to amend our trajectory, whether at the beginning of the year or any other juncture.
Change
The problem with a resolution made at the start of January is that it so often falters by March! We may genuinely want to change and might resolve to do so, but life has a way of overtaking such good intentions. If you are someone whose self-control means that your New Year’s resolution still stands firm come December, then my suggestion is that you don’t wait till the change of year to make the next one. If we recognise a need to live differently, then why would we delay doing so?
God is in the change business. He himself is immutable, changeless, but he is committed to change in us. Salvation is the most profound change event, bringing us from spiritual death to life; however, this is but the commencement of a lifelong process. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and in 2 Corinthians 13:8 that we are being transformed into His image. These might be thought of as reconfigurations of our values; nothing short of a revolution in our motivation and thinking, but they are not instantaneous. Our commitment to such change might be made as one initial point, but we need to continually recommit to becoming aligned with God’s will and purpose for us.
A suggestion
Having considered resolutions generally, I want to suggest one that we would each do well to adopt. Whether you have made a New Year’s resolution already, or are reading this when the date for that has long passed, this is something that can be embraced at any date on the calendar, and at any point in our lives. There are some words of a Christian song that constitute a profound prayer – an act of worship that we might resolve to make regularly, daily even. I imagined that this song was relatively modern, but it turns out to have been penned almost a century ago:
“Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
I have come across a version of this that misses out the most challenging phrase – ‘break me’ – but whilst this might be a hard thing to ask God to do, I believe that, rather than being optional, it is essential. We need him to break our willfulness. Horses have to be broken in if they are to be of any use; they then need to become moulded to the will of their rider. Then rider and mount can function as one, in harmony and trust; the rider knowing the horse’s capabilities and trusting its obedience to the reins; the horse knowing that the rider cares for it and won’t demand more than it is capable of. If you have ever watched an Olympic dressage event, then you will appreciate what I mean.
Preparation
Moulding can only happen when we have become malleable; hard objects are rigid and inflexible. So, we need to be melted in his hands. Then God can change our shape, making us fit for the service that he has for us to perform. Like clay that is formed into a cup, it is only when we are in the shape that God wants that the filling of the Holy Spirit will enable his purposes to be fulfilled in and through us.
You might feel that you aren’t ready to ask God to do these things with you – break, melt and mould. If this is the case, then I encourage you to reconsider what Jesus’ being Lord actually means. This is something that we normally commit to at our point of salvation; Jesus being our saviour and our lord. Maybe you didn’t appreciate what ‘Lord’ entailed – the words of this song express his lordship in our lives very well. Are you ready to recommit your life and invite Jesus to become Lord in reality, rather than in name alone?
I leave you with the challenge to adopt the words of this song as your regular, genuine and purposeful prayer. There is no shortcut if we want to honour God and to be of use in his kingdom. Meditate on the words, make them real to you and ask God to fulfil them in your life. Then you will become: “useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).