Aaron Proffitt

I love a new year and I really love people’s responses to a new year. And I guess after 30 of these now I consider myself a seasoned veteran. Every single year, time after time, I hear the same thing; “My New year’s resolution for 200__ will be…” To be somewhat candid, it’s getting kind of old. I remember one year Jay and I had the New Year’s resolution of not drinking soda. While that one did last about 3 months, we both ended up falling into the wily snares of carbonation, caffeine, and sugar, lots of sugar. I guess I need to be honest with everyone and say that the 3 months of not drinking soda was the longest I have ever kept a resolution. I consider myself to be a fairly disciplined dude and the longest I have kept a resolution is 3 months!? Come on! I can probably venture to say that most of you fall into the same category as the weak-minded individual that is currently writing this blog. And of course I am not implying that you readers are weak-minded at all We have big aspirations every year to be more disciplined whether it be with weight loss, exercise, carving out tv, reading more, spending more time with loved ones, etc… These aspirations are soon dashed by our lack of discipline, the business of life, or simply put we just stop caring.

Any way you look at it, in most cases, our resolutions are fleeting. They wash away in a sea of obscurity. For the most part though, our resolutions are not life threatening. But what if they were? What if a resolution we made had eternal consequences upon our life or the life of another? As a follower of Christ, I must put everything I do into an eternal context. I have to continue to remember that there are so many around me who are disconnected from God and who face an eternity of disconnection. What if my New Year’s Resolution had to do with this? What if we said that this year we are going to make it a point to share the truth with 50 people (that’s 1 person per week)? And what if all of us followed through with this resolution? I guarantee that the ministry of Aletheia would be transformed. I promise that we would be hearing incredible stories daily of people coming to know Christ. This is a challenge to everyone to make a New Year’s resolution that is really substantial and worthwhile. You can make the exercise and diet resolutions all you want and there is nothing wrong with those. But make an eternally consequential one this year and follow through with it. And then let’s look forward to an incredibly productive 2008.

Who will make this resolution with me? Who will do what 97% of people in one of the largest Denominations in America will never do even once in their lifetime? Who will share the Good News of Jesus Christ to 1 person every week in 2008?