However, I don't think we should toss out the practice of resolutions just because our flesh is weak! It's a good way to evaluate life once again and put our lives back in a proper perspective. I have found this time of year to be especially beneficial in my fight to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ! For me, my spiritual resolutions are by far the most important. Making them is another way for me to work on instilling healthy, sound disciplines into my life. The old adage is true, even in the spiritual realm: "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time!"

This year, my spiritual resolutions are all about TIME, spending it wisely and not wasting it!

• 1. I will spend quality time with my heavenly Father! I will rise before dawn and cry for help (psalm 119:147). I will seek the face of God before I see the face of any man! I will hope in his words, cherish them, memorize them, read them, and pray them.
• 2. I will spend quality time with my wife! I will learn to live with her in an understanding way (1 pet 3:7). I will listen more. We will take more walks and have more dates. She will be my foremost priority in ministry.
• 3. I will spend quality time with my kids! I will nurture and admonish them in the Lord (eph 6:4). I will play dolls with my daughter and trucks with my son. I will labor to teach them the Word and display it before them in my life. I will work to develop within them a love for God, love for others, and a string work ethic.
• 4. I will spend quality time with others! I will practice loving others as myself (matt 22:39). I will develop relationships with others, seek to meet the needs of others, pray for others, and put their desires and needs above my own.
• 5. I will spend quality time with some good books! I will broaden my knowledge of this world (classics, history, novels, other faiths, biographies), and I will deepen my knowledge of the Lord (theology, history, doctrine, practice, exegesis).
• 6. I will spend time listening to sound, biblical teaching/preaching. As I exist to proclaim the Word and feed others, I will absorb Bible proclamation and be fed.

So where will I find time to accomplish these large goals this year?

• 1. I will spend less time watching TV and being distracted by technological gadgetry and entertainment media that results in nothing eternally beneficial and much time wasted!
• 2. I will schedule my days in order to get the most out of them and use them to the utmost for the glory of God.
• 3. I will not allow laziness and over-sleeping to keep me from giving myself to the Lord, to the Lord's work, and to others!
• 4. I will not allow a favorite pastime or hobby to become a dominating habit in my life. I will restrain them to needed rest and not daily practice.
• 5. I will only give my attention to those activities and tasks that somehow fit into the categories above.
• 6. I will evaluate how I spent my day every day!

Now the question is how? How in the world can I maintain any success in these areas at all? Don't let the dogged determination in the words fool you! I am extremely weak in all the areas mentioned above!