Well, it’s another new year. 2025 seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye, and here we are in 2026. For many in the world, a new year comes with making resolutions. We commit ourselves afresh to sticking to a diet, going to the gym, learning something new, and so on. Even as a Christian, a new year brings a new Bible reading plan or a deeper commitment to prayer.
Therefore, in light of making “New Year’s Resolutions,” this year, I would like to reflect each month on how, as Christians, we can be more resolved in our faith to live lives of full devotion to our Savior. But to kick things off, I want to focus on why we should be devoted to Christ, before we get to how we should live out our devotion to Him.
Jesus desires more from us than the cold externals of religion. He desires us to serve Him out of a warm, heartfelt, and thankful love for all He has done for us. It is far too easy for us to get into a mindset that God is angry with us all the time, and therefore, we had better work hard because “hey, Jesus is watching.” Well, yes, Jesus is indeed watching, after all, we read many times in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the book of Revelation, that “He knows our works.”
But that doesn’t mean He is a hard taskmaster who is ready to lash out at His people the moment they step out of line. No, our Lord is the merciful and gracious God of all creation, who, out of His immense love for us, entered into His creation to die on the cross to save us.
And so, as we go into this new year and seek to yield ourselves more fully to our Lord, may we do so with the knowledge that He is good and worthy of our service. And thus, let us seek to please Him with all that we do and say.
-Shaun M. Hewlett