The New Year

As I begin the New Year, like most folks I look back on the year past, and set goals for the coming year. I usually have more goals than a person could possibly attain, but this year, it has been more challenging to me to set goals for myself.  Maybe it is because my thoughts on goals are changing? Maybe the hard and fast goals that are so easy to measure - "I will lose those ugly 10# of fat this year; I will pay off my debt; I will grow the business for my company more this year" - are beginning to be replaced with goals that are not so measurable.  How would I measure, "Lord, I want to draw closer to You that I might learn more of your ways"? Or how about setting a goal to be more loving and kind; how do you measure that? Or, I want to spend more time with family and friends?  And though I cannot measure them, these are the "higher goals."  These are the long-lasting goals.  These are the goals that He would ask of me; His higher calling which is that I would love others as He has loved me.

It is not wrong to have measurable goals - I still will lose those 10# of ugly fat!  It is just that they seem not as important to me as they have in years gone by.  The apostle Paul said, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God."  Loving others, especially those who are difficult and challenging, is not an easy goal, to be sure.  I may not be able to measure it, but if I let Him work out His plan in me – to love others - I will surely know it, for He will cause me to change, and I will experience to an even greater degree, His peace and His love and His joy. And that is a gift that is beyond measure.

Happy New Year, everyone!