The year 2012 has arrived. The mighty and wonderful and awesome God we serve has been kind enough to allow us the opportunity to enjoy His blessings for yet another year. He has shown His longsuffering nature by allowing those who have not named His name a chance to do so. He has allowed those Christians who are not living up to His standards the time and opportunity to make themselves right before Him. He has also given us all the opportunity to accomplish the things for Him that we failed to do in 2011. The very fact that we are here is testament to the fact that He has not given up on us. That is a pretty sobering thought.

It is at this time of year that many choose to take inventory of their lives and look to improve them. Most look to their physical selves first. Smokers vow to finally stop smoking. Those who have slowly (or rapidly) put on a few pounds vow to get back into shape. Some will even daringly attempt to balance their checkbooks. There will be a concerted effort on the part of many to attempt to discard bad habits and replace them with new and improved ones.

While there is nothing wrong with that kind of thinking, that is not the first area we should look to improve. When you write down your new year’s resolutions, will any of them have anything to do with spiritual matters? Shouldn’t that be the first and most important area in which we look to make improvements? Of course it is. Let’s look at four areas in which we could all improve.

Prayer

If you are not praying, start. If your prayer life needs improvement, look to pray as often as you would email, text, tweet (whatever that is) or write/respond on Facebook. Don’t limit your prayers to the ones said before meals and at bedtime. Pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:17). Prayers do not have to be lengthy. Just as we might have a quick word with one another, we can do the same thing with God. Be thankful when you pray. All prayers need not be requests. Think of how you feel when out of the blue someone tells you how thankful they are for you, for something you did, for what you mean to them, etc. Pray more with your family. Pray more with your spouse, especially if you are having a disagreement. It has often been said (and truthfully so) that it is hard to be mad at someone you are praying with. Do you pray before big decisions are made? Look in the Scriptures at all the prayers lifted up before decisions/events. Is that not an example we should follow?

Bible Study Reading

Have you ever read the Bible from cover to cover in a year? There are many schedules available that can be followed if this is something you desire to do. Some have one-a-day readings while others have two-a-day schedules. Every time you read the Bible, you will find something in passages that you had not seen before. Don’t let this be the totality of what you do. Study the Word (II Tim .2:15). When we took classes in high school or college, many of us took notes. Why not use that method when studying the Bible? As you read, make up questions as if you were teaching a class on whatever part you are reading. Some people study by trying to paraphrase sections of the Bible as they read it to see if an understanding of what has been read has been reached. Read with your spouse, your children, or your spouse and your children. Take advantage of those teaching moments when they present themselves. Take the initiative to memorize a verse a day or a verse a week.  Make it a family thing.  Download a copy of the Bible onto your phone, iPod, iPad, etc. or just make a CD of a section of the Bible and listen as you would to music that you have downloaded.

Becoming A Servant (Or Better Servant) To Others

In my opinion, one of the things that holds us back from growing spiritually as we should is selfishness. Too many of us have not learned the lesson that should have been learned before we got into elementary school — we can’t always have our way. There is only one who deserves to get His way all the time, and sometimes we balk at that! Too often we are so focused on getting what we think is rightfully ours that we forget what the Lord taught in Matt. 7:12, that we should treat others as we would have them treat us. Putting others first has to be practiced and worked on. Once it becomes part of one’s nature, it is surprising how much happier and less complicated one’s life becomes. Doing for others is what the Lord did and continues to do for us. And remember that it is not necessary for everyone to know of the good that we do for others. God knows and that is all that matters.

Attendance

This is a touchy subject with some, but why would we not want to be in attendance every time the Lord is being worshipped? There are those who would love to be at services that can’t, yet there are many of us that let minor inconveniences keep us from services. I am thankful that the Lord did not let minor inconveniences keep Him from making the sacrifice for my salvation. If you have been irregular in your attendance, become regular. If you have not been attending Bible classes prior to the worship hour, begin today. If you think that attendance on Sunday nights and attendance Wednesday nights are not necessary or are not beneficial, work on that mindset. I need you here to help encourage me and there are plenty sitting around you who will tell you the same thing.

Let us all resolve to become better children of God this year by working at it day by day. At the end of 2012, let us all stand in that doorway in the kitchen of our lives, make that pencil mark above our heads, step back, and see how much we’ve grown spiritually this year. We may surprise ourselves!

–David Short