Happy New Year! A new year to deepen our faith and trust in God

As we look forward to 2015, it is good to look back and do a bit of an honest assessment of 2014.

What types of things did not get done in your life?

Well, there may be many, if you are anything like me.

However, let’s narrow down the range of assessment to just things having to do with our spiritual growth.

Now what things come to mind?

Was this the year you were going to try to read the whole Bible through, but only got part way?

Was this the year you were actually going to try to start reading the Bible, but never did?

Was this the year you were going to try to stick to a regular quiet time with God, but didn’t?

Well, if any of these fit you, welcome to normalcy.  Welcome to the human race, and congratulations for giving it a try.

Why not go for it again? Only this time stop trying and just do it. Take the word “try” right out of your vocabulary. It’s a word that sets us up for failure, you know.

There is a really neat test you can do to understand how much “try” steals success. Do this with a friend or family member and see for yourself.

Ask the person to think of something they would like to do. It should be something new, like sky diving, scuba diving, or horseback riding. You get the idea. Then have them take their thumb and index finger and pinch them together, leaving a circular hole in the middle. Now have them hold it as tight as they can while they say out loud, “I would like to …… (make sure the word “try” is NOT used). While they do so, you do your best to pull their fingers apart.

Now repeat this exactly the same, except this time they say, “I would like to try to…..”. You do your best to pull their fingers apart.

I think you will find this amazing. Remember it the next time you even think of “trying” to keep a set God time in your day. Don’t try, just do.

Happy New Year!

M.