What is the best new year resolution? Everyone shouts, “Happy New Year,” but what is truly new when we continue in our sin, failing to keep our resolutions? This does not make the year genuinely new, even if it is the very first day of the year. You can make the year new or old by how you live.
We enter the New Year determined to get it right, yet before we know it, we have missed the mark. Every year we say, “Happy New Year,” but Jesus remains the same yesterday, last year, this year, and in the year to come. So what, then, is new?
Citing Joshua 24:15, the kind of resolutions we are used to making are things like: “I will not lie again,” “I will not fornicate again,” “I will not steal,” “I will not kill,” or “I will not destroy again.” These resolutions often last only for a moment because we have failed to make the fundamental resolution.
This is because we have failed to make the greatest resolution of all – the decision, the choice, to make God’s Word the standard for our lives.
The Best New Year Resolution: Be Converted
Today, many are known as Christians only by what they confess. Remember, the Bible says in Matthew 7:16, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Many are identified merely by what they confess, what they preach, and what they teach. Yet the Bible is clear: by their fruits we shall know them. These are the people the Bible refers to as impostors.
This is not the kind of choice Joshua meant when he spoke to his people. He meant real commitment. It may be true that you are convinced that Jesus is the Redeemer, Comforter, and Healer – perhaps because He has healed you, a family member, or a friend but you may not yet be converted.
If you are converted, you will abandon your old ways. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” One thing is to be convinced; another thing entirely is to be converted.
To be converted is to obey His Word and His commands. This is what the Bible means when it teaches that knowing God is not only about seeing His works but also about learning His ways.
You may be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Jesus is Lord, yet not converted. If you were converted, you would not merely look forward to a New Year, but rather to a consolidation of fulfillment. That longing for change alone reveals a lack of true conversion.
If you are going to serve the Lord, be prepared for moments when you will be tested. When trouble comes, remain calm and determined. When sickness comes, remain calm and determined.
Keep Calm and be Determined
You have to make a choice; you cannot sit on the fence. This is what Joshua meant. The Bible says that he set before his people a choice between God Almighty and the gods of their forefathers. Joshua knew serving God brings peace and comfort, while serving Satan leads to pain, bitterness, and death.
The Bible shows that Joshua did not make it compulsory, because he understood that salvation is personal. He realized that many among the people of Israel were sitting on the fence – they were neither cold nor hot – and there is no neutral kingdom. That is why he said to them, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
In life, man is given the freedom to choose from many alternatives that surround him. The choice he makes determines who he is before God. Joshua knew that serving God is the only way – the only road – to peace and comfort, while serving Satan is a sure way to bitterness.
When trials come, remain calm and be determined, because there is God’s appointed time – a time for trials and a time for victory.
If you are convinced but not converted, circumstances like poverty or failure can easily shake your faith and relationship with God.
This is why many people, when they are not healed, begin to see Jesus in a negative light; but when they are healed, Jesus is Lord. Today, everyone desires breakthrough, yet failure often serves to prepare us for a new level.
The Best New Year Resolution: Conclusion
Joshua understood that those destined for heaven must first become willing servants. A willing servant rejects the crowd, choosing the higher path of obedience and faithfulness to God.
Many struggle because they look to others for direction, and in doing so, they become like those they follow. They speak like others speak, act like others act, think like others think, and reason like others reason.
But God does not call us to conformity; He calls us to conviction. When the mind comes into agreement with God, circumstances lose their power. What you see, what people say, and what people do can no longer shake your relationship with Him. Even when situations change, your foundation remains firm, because your allegiance is no longer to the crowd, but to God.
In that place of agreement, faith becomes steady, obedience becomes natural, and the servant becomes willing – not by force, but by choice.