WWUTT: What Does the Bible Say About Making New Years Resolutions?

Ah… the New Year! Time for a fresh start, new beginnings, bogus prophecies that don’t mean anything – seriously watch out for those yahoo’s declaring, “This is the year of your breakthrough!”

By now, you’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions of your own. Perhaps you want to lose a few pounds, or break a bad habit, or learn a new skill. And then in two weeks, when you epically fail at your resolution, you’ll say, “Ahh, there’s always next year.”

Is it a good idea for Christians to be making resolutions?

Sure! Why not? There’s nothing wrong with setting personal goals. Just remember that:

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God! (1 Corinthians 10:31)

(Unless your resolution is to diet, in which case… don’t eat and don’t drink to the glory of God?)

Consider also these words from James:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit,” yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance and all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

Yeah, it’s straight up evil to think that you control your destiny. But as Job understood, the days of a man are like the days of a hired hand his days are few and predetermined and God has appointed our limits that we cannot pass.

Man who is born of a woman

Is few of days and full of trouble.

He comes out like a flower and withers;

Flees like a shadow and continues not.

Do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an

Unclean? There is not one.

Since his days are determined

And the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits

That he cannot pass,

Look away from him and leave him be,

That he may enjoy, like a hired hand,

His day. (Job 14:1-6)

Jesus said:

“Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

… when we understand the text.

(This video is by WWUTT. Discovered by e² media network and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not e² media network.)