New year, new you?
It's been reported that over half of us embark on New Year's resolutions every January, with top aspirations circling around dieting, weight loss, spending less money, exercising, learning new skills or hobbies, quitting smoking, reading more, finding new jobs, reducing alcohol consumption, and investing more time with family and friends. Among these resolutions, joining the gym emerges as one of the most popular choices. Surprisingly, 90% of gym-goers quit after just three months, amounting to a staggering £558 million wasted annually on unused memberships. Sadly, these statistics reveal that the majority of these resolutions meet their demise by January 12th, with 80% abandoning their resolutions by February, leaving only 8% successfully keeping their resolutions. But what do all these statistics teach us?
I think they tell us what we already know; humans find it difficult to form new habits and stick to commitments. Equally, it teaches us that humans (often without God) are really good at failing. And it's not just New Year's resolutions; we encounter failure and setbacks in various aspects of life. Imagine: what if, instead of wanting to lose weight, we gained some? What if our efforts to save money resulted in a loss? What if, contrary to our intentions, we read less instead of more? Now, failing to keep any of these does not make us bad people whatsoever, but we nevertheless can “feel” bad and judge ourselves harshly if we fail to keep resolutions.
There’s a wonderful story in Luke 15 many of us are familiar with, often known as the prodigal son. It’s about two sons really, an older son (who likely keeps his resolutions), and a younger son (who doesn’t). In the story the younger son essentially sets his own resolution: I want my inheritance money and I want to go and live life to the full! Sadly, like many of us, his plan fails, and it fails badly. He ends up in a terrible situation, with no money and wishing he could eat as well as pigs! But this young man does something incredible. He realises the mess he is in and decides to go home, apologise, and hopefully he will get a place to stay and a morsel to eat. To his surprise, his father has been waiting. Probably pacing outside his house, maybe each day looking down the road to see if his son would return. Finally, his father spots him, and runs to him. As the son tries to apologise and rehearse his speech, the father smothers him with an abundance of kisses and hugs. Come home, he says, I’ve got a big party planned just for you, with the best food too! The elder son who stayed at home wasn’t too happy (where’s my party? I’ve never failed). The story ends with the fate of the two sons reversed: the elder son is outside in the field with the workers, while the younger prodigal son is now in father’s house.
What can we learn from all this as 2024 is upon us? You may fail, you may mess up, you might have already failed!…. But God’s love never will. We can’t fail when we are in God’s arms. Whether or not you've made resolutions, we all harbour hopes and expectations for the year ahead.
My prayer is that our devotion to God through Christ becomes our ultimate resolution. Even if our growth doesn't meet our aspirations, His faithfulness endures. He’s always waiting for us, always wanting to embrace us, always wanting to offering love and grace in our mess. Always wanting to clothe and feed us when we need it the most. We may fail, but his love never will.
Blessings to you and your family
Josh Bloor
