Different

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 NLT

It's interesting to me how we spend the last week of December praying for change, hoping for it to happen come the first of the new year, even make resolutions to effect said change, but by day three, most are ready to quit or at the very least, to compromise.

Globally, the number one resolution is usually losing weight or getting healthier... but cutting out sugar is harder than we expected. We'd like to walk more so we can be fit, but to get in 10,000 steps a day is an awful lot like exercise... And eating more healthful foods actually requires food prep and cooking. Who has time for all that? The truth is, we want to be different, but we don't want to do what it takes to actually make it/us different.

Do we do the same thing with God in the new year? The number one Christian resolution is spending more time in God's Word. We're going to read the Bible through in a year, but by the end of the first week, we're behind and trying to catch up on the reading! Yes, praise God, His mercies are new every morning, but we can't honestly expect a difference if we're not willing to DO things differently.

Prayer:

Father,
            Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from the sin of complacency. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen