It's All About Your Investment

Are new years a big deal to you? I was chatting with a friend the other day, and she brought up how people make such a big deal out of a new year.

I like new years because there’s the hope of a new beginning of sorts. Of course, we’re not actually going back to something we can remake, but we can start over in the sense of changing habits and bettering our quality of life through our new, wiser choices. And with a new year, there’s hope we’ll succeed. We all have a reasonable timeline to work with.

FB lets you see photos from previous years. One of my dear friends posted photos of herself from last January. But she’s not the same person. Well, okay, she is, but she’s been very successful this year with her goals. And she looks much more content with herself now that she’s succeeded. She inspires me and others, I’m sure. She transformed her appearance all in one year and without outside help.

So, it occurs to me, that the new year can be what we make of it. Do you set goals? Do you make plans for change? Do you want to make changes? Why not go for it? That’s the hope of a new year. But it’ll only be as successful as your investment.

If I go into the new year without setting goals, if I decide January 1st means nothing, that it’s just another day on the calendar, then I won’t make plans for change. And guess what? I may change (let’s be honest, we all change) but it won’t be as I’m secretly hoping I will.

But, if I go into the new year with a plan for change, if I decide to restructure my schedule or rework my priorities or set goals, then I strive toward them, I will see the changes I want to see.

Here's what it will take:

Prayer.

Planning.

Investing.

Implementing.

Persevering.

Reaping.

God’s law of sowing and reaping will manifest in our lives, for better or worse. If we work toward positive changes we’ll see them, eventually, if we persevere.

So, where in that list above are you weakest? Do you make a plan you think is wise, but never discuss it with God, or better yet, get His leading before you begin? Do you prayerfully plan well, but then give up when things don’t go as planned? Do you have a hard time implementing the carefully constructed plan? Maybe you give up after the hard work but just before you would have reaped the reward.

I think the possibilities of a new year lie in what you make of it. Just like any restart. If you invest in it through prayer and planning and implementing, through persevering, you’ll reap. If you blow it off, you’re giving in to the inevitable changes and those might not all be desirable.

Isn’t it interesting God gives us plenty of chances for a fresh start—sunrise, seasonal changes, new years, birthdays? And He give us some means to make the changes we want to see. I say take advantage of them. Sow and you will reap, good or bad. So, sow good deeds and seeds, and reap good benefits. By summer, or by next December, you’ll be a new you. And you’ll be glad you invested all you did.

It’s gonna be worth it.